Friends, family remember student Jana Mackey
Published on Mon., July 7th, 2008
Days after University of Kansas student Jana Mackey was found dead inside a Lawrence home, friends and relatives were still gathered together, grieving the loss of the second-year KU law student and reflecting on a tumultuous and tragic weekend.
Thursday, Mackey, 25, was found dead inside the home of 46-year-old Adolfo Garcia-Nunez at 409 Michigan St. Garcia-Nunez, her alleged killer, fled the state and was taken into custody on Friday in Elizabeth, N.J. He was found dead inside his jail cell on Saturday, the result of an apparent suicide. Lawrence Police confirmed Garcia-Nunez’s death on Saturday. As of Monday, law officials had not released Mackey’s cause of death.
Friends of Mackey confirmed that Mackey and Garcia-Nunez had been dating for the past year until Mackey ended the relationship three weeks ago.
Photo by CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Memorial services for Jana Mackey
2 p.m., Wednesday at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St.*
*Friends and family will gather to celebrate Mackey’s life on Wednesday night at The Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St.
KU Couseling and Psychological Services
Counselors will be available to meet with law school students, faculty and staff at Green Hall, according to a release from KU Law School.
Kelli Brandt, 2005 graduate and one of Mackey’s closest friends, said family and friends spent the weekend collecting old photos and telling stories about Mackey’s life. Brandt and Mackey met eight years ago while both were living in Hashinger Hall.
“Jana was the total package,” Brandt said. “Beautiful, intelligent — she glowed.”
A native of Hays, Mackey earned her undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies. Brandt said she started out in music and theater, but as a sophomore, Mackey enrolled in a women’s studies course.
“That course changed her life,” Brandt said. “It gave her a purpose.”
An advocate for women’s rights, Brandt said Mackey lobbied for the National Organization for Women and ProKanDo, a pro-choice political action committee in Kansas.
“She was the type of person who went into law not for the money, but for the people,” Brandt said. “All she wanted to do was serve.”
Mackey was enrolled this summer in the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project, representing state and federal prisoners in appellate and post-conviction litigation in state and federal courts. “Jana was well-loved by all of us,” said Gail Agrawal, KU law school dean, in a statement. “She was a smart, engaging woman whose warm personality and quick smile endeared her to all who knew her.”
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Massachusetts Street was mostly empty on Sunday evening, as a few walkers passed empty shops. This was a street that Mackey explored often. Friends described Mackey as a “real community girl.” If Mackey wasn’t at the law school, she was likely on the porch at Free State Brewery, hanging out at Henry’s, or watching live music at the Replay Lounge. “She was so comfortable in her own skin,” Brandt said. “All she wanted to do was bring everyone together.”
Brandt said Mackey met Garcia-Nunez in Spring 2007 while dancing. Garcia-Nunez, an artist, painted a portrait for Mackey. The couple started dating and often went salsa dancing.
But as Brandt acknowledged, Garcia-Nunez had a “dark side.”
According to records from the Kansas Department of Corrections, Garcia-Nunez was convicted of aggravated assault and aggravated battery in 2004. Garcia-Nunez spent time in jail before being granted parole in August 2006.
Brandt said Mackey was aware of Garcia-Nunez’s past, but according to Brandt, Garcia-Nunez was able to rationalize his criminal background.
Brandt described a Garcia-Nunez who cooked “wonderful food” and was friendly to Mackey’s friends.
“Only rarely did we see the other side,” Brandt said.
But Brandt said Mackey decided to end the relationship three weeks ago when Garcia-Nunez began acting irrationally. Brandt said she asked Mackey if she thought Garcia-Nunez would ever hurt her. Brandt said her friend told her, “Absolutely not.”
But friends started to worry when Mackey went missing last week and her car was discovered abandoned on the evening of Thursday at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Their worst fears came true when Mackey’s body was found inside Garcia-Nunez’s home late Thursday night.
Brandt said she and Mackey had sat together on Mackey’s porch on a recent Sunday.
“She felt like she had a new lease on life,” Brandt said. “She was in a really good place in her life. She was the strongest, most elegant, graceful woman,” Brandt said.
Family and friends will gather again at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Liberty Hall to celebrate Mackey’s life. Another celebration at the Replay Lounge will follow Wednesday evening. Brandt said the entire community was welcome at both. Counselors from the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services will be available.
— Edited by Matt Hircshfeld
Discussion
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I never met Jana, but this is a very upsetting situation. She seems like such a nice person. Be careful out there, girls. It might sound didactic and old fashioned, but why not wait until after graduation to have a boyfriend? Study and make good grades, think about your future. Dont hang around at bars downtown and drink. Its better to be lonely and safe than out messing around with strange people. Downtown Lawrence is a bad place at night, I had a lot of problems with people there, wish I would have stayed home and studied instead. One time I punched a guy in his face, another time I shattered a bar window with my fist, but I would never hurt a young girl. All I ever saw downtown at night: stupidity, violence, illegal drug use, desperation, and thievery. That is the reality of the situation at 9th and Mass. No fun to be had at those bars at all. I used to live down the street. All the noise from people partying is annoying. Yeah, we have a great ball team, lets honor them by achieving something with our lives, not acting like drunk fools.The alcohol and drug problem is out of control, and yes, it is quite definitely related to Jana's murder. Jana's friends need to change the way they look at life. Dont celebrate her life at a bar. A bright young girl's life is better than that of a bunch of ugly drunk homeless punks. Think about it. Dont hang around and smoke and drink your life away. Analyze the reality you live in, be smart, and maybe you will survive. The world is not a safe place.You wont be so sad if you make a better choice. Change how you are living, I did. This is no joke so dont even think about removing this comment.
Joke or no joke your comment is inappropriate, roywilliams. This is not the time to lecture people, especially after the murder of an outspoken advocate of women's rights.
Roywilliams: Stay home and don't come out to celebrate Jana's life at replay, we don't want anyone punched or windows shattered.
You are a total idiot to make comments like that. You are clueless about Jana.
Great idea RoyWilliams,
Because the world is unsafe for women, we need to stay inside for our own protection. Hmmm... that sounds like a familiar tactic. Who was it?
Oh yes, the Taliban. Shall we follow that logic and do as the Taliban did to Afghani women? Keep us at home in windows painted black, kick us out of school, force us to cover from head to toe, deny us access to medical care... that's just what we need, another gender apartheid.
...Or maybe men should stop abusing, raping and killing women.
I'll be @ Liberty & later @ Replay to celebrate Jana!
RoyWilliams, I don't even know where to begin with you, so I won't. I simply think you have nothing better to do in life than stay up till 2am trolling the forums for one of my most well remembered friends from high school that has become the victim of a troubled person. Take heed of your own ignorant advice and keep yourself locked inside, for all of us, and especially for Jana.
Some readers might want to read more from Jana's friends at EverydayCitizen.com in these blog posts and their comments. First, this one:
http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/07/l...
and, also, here:
http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2008/07/c...
Mr Williams- My friend Jana was a good woman. She found herself in a bad situation and she tried to get out of it. Her death had nothing to do with your agenda, your frustration, or your anger. You dishonor her and her memory with your words. I'm truly sorry that other friends of hers have had to read this opinion of yours in this context. It's simply inappropriate.
Everyone needs to calm down. Save your soap box routine for a more appropriate time. Jana's death does not need to be an excuse for you to spout off about all of your paranoid conspiratorial beliefs. Chill out and enjoy life.
roywilliams all i have to say is if everyone took your advice then woman would never see the light of day. there is nothing u can do to prevent things like this. jana was a very beautiful woman and was a delight to be around. she was a very friendly person and a very good student. the way u make it sound is she just sit in bars all night and drank. and that is not fair considering u didn't even know her. there are alot of #ssholes out there like the one who took jana from all of us but we can't hide from them or they win. and that is the wrong message to send to others.
It was an honor to work with Jana during my years as a legislator in the Kansas Statehouse. Although Jana and I did not share the same perspective on some issues, she and I were both able to put the politics aside and have some inteligent conversations. I will always remember her bright smile during our committee meetings and greeting us in the lobby during session. As a Republican pro-life legislator, I was pleasantly surprised whenever she wanted to discuss things with me. She NEVER pushed her opinions on to me. She did her job and provided information. As a result, we always had a great time hanging out after office hours and became good acquaintances. The world will miss Jana. Our thoughts and prayers for her family.
I'm glad everybody is sharing their feelings, and not attacking me anymore. I didnt mean to dishonor anybody. I was angry when I heard this news and I guess I lashed out. I wanted to point out that alcohol was definitely a factor in this case. I understand the perp was Hispanic. So he probably was drunk on tequila or rum or something when he murdered that poor girl. He was a total coward, not a talented artist at all. Just a conniving liar (he claimed to be ten years younger than he really was in order to lure his female victims to his myspace). I wanted to stress that women should becareful, not that they should be locked away. I see too much violence against women on the news. These guys that do this are weaklings who attack people smaller and weaker than they are, like pedophiles. It is a shame. Something needs to be done, it starts with you. You can clean up your community, live a better life. Dont get drunk and go to bars, expecting to find true love. People who like to do this dont want to hear it. "just chill out and enjoy life" No. Your planet Earth is poisoned with murdering lunatics. Defend yourself, stay alive. It is just good advice, dont take it the wrong way. I want you to empower your community by being smart. I used to go to the replay and it was just a waste of time. My life would be better now than if I had not. There are much better ways to party and enjoy life. I miss the town of Lawrence, want KU students and the community to be safe, read good stories in the news. I was upset by this story. Please make Lawrence a better place, I respect it very much, so should you. Jana was an intelligent person, she was young and beautiful with a promising life ahead of her. It is painful to me to think about even though I did not know her. I was an intelligent KU student too, and I made some bad choices of friends. It could have happened to me, I saw a lot of crazy people there, some of them started fights with me, could have killed me. Why, because they were drunk. I drink too, I'm not some holier-than-though fanatic. I just want people to think about their lives on a grander scale. Lawrence is a tiny spec on the map, there is a huge world to live in. Years from know many of you will move on, and you'll see that the times you remember best were not spent getting drunk on Mass st. Of course you will remember your friend. Celebrate her life by making yours better.
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