A Tukwila man has been charged with first-degree murder with sexual motivation in the 1994 killing of 14-year-old Tanya Marie Frazier, after investigators matched his DNA to evidence collected more than three decades ago, according to charging documents filed Wednesday by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Mark Anthony Russ, 57, was arrested Nov. 4 and charged with premeditated first-degree murder while committing rape in the first and second degree.
Prosecutors allege Russ used a knife or sharp object to kill Frazier between July 18 and July 23, 1994, while she was walking home from summer school at Meany Middle School on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
Detectives say Russ’s DNA was identified in 2025 using enhanced testing of samples collected from the victim’s body. The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab reported a CODIS database match linking Russ to semen found on autopsy evidence, reviving one of Seattle’s most haunting cold cases. The lab had initially recovered a partial male profile in 2004, but a full match was not possible until this year due to advancements in DNA extraction methods .
According to the probable cause statement, Frazier’s body was discovered five days after she disappeared, down a ravine near Highland Drive and 23rd Ave East. She had suffered multiple sharp-force wounds to her head and neck. Detectives believe she was approached by a man near her school and may have been lured into conversation before being killed.
The filing also details Russ’s extensive criminal history, including violent felony convictions for robbery, burglary, and attempted rape. Prosecutors noted that he was sentenced to life without parole under Washington’s “three strikes” law in 1997 but was resentenced and released in 2021 after legislative reforms reduced penalties for certain prior offenses .
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mary Barbosa requested that Russ be held without bail, citing his violent history, failure to register as a sex offender, and the “egregious” nature of the crime. Prosecutors said Russ represents an “extreme danger to the community” and a serious flight risk.
“Multiple generations of investigators and scientists have worked on this case for over three decades,” said Seattle Police Det. Rolf Norton. “Today is not a day for celebration; it’s a day to reflect on Tanya Frazier and her surviving family as they continue to grieve for their daughter, sister, and aunt. Our thoughts go out to them.”
Frazier’s family reported her missing in 1994 when she did not arrive for a summer job at the Chicken Soup Brigade. Her personal items were later found months later near Longfellow Creek in West Seattle, about a half-mile from an address tied to Russ at the time.
The case marks another example of advanced DNA technology helping law enforcement solve decades-old homicides. Russ remains in custody pending arraignment in King County Superior Court.
