Sunnyside woman shot in head at least four times

A Sunnyside woman found dead Monday at the end of a rural road outside the city was shot in the head at least four times, according to an autopsy.

Yakima County sheriff's detectives said Monday afternoon that they were still trying to retrace victim Jessica Barajas' last steps to help determine the circumstances of the shooting.

Orchard workers discovered the body of Barajas, 26, about 5:30 a.m. as they arrived at work at the end of Scoon Road, several miles west of Sunnyside, authorities said.

No houses are near the scene. The body was found next to the road, adjacent to an orchard.

Investigators initially reported that Barajas had also been shot in the torso, but the autopsy found only the head wounds, Coroner Jack Hawkins said. Other evidence at the scene may have wrongly suggested the additional wounds, Hawkins said.

The weapon has not been recovered, and detectives are still trying to determine the circumstances of the shooting, said Stew Graham, the sheriff's chief of detectives. She apparently was shot at the scene, Graham said.

Graham said Barajas had family ties in the Lower Valley and apparently lived a somewhat transient lifestyle. Detectives heard she had recently been staying at the Town House Motel in Sunnyside, Graham said.

Along with a gang-related shooting death over the weekend in Yakima, the woman's killing brings Yakima County's homicide total to 18 for the year, matching the final 2008 count.

Anyone with information about the Barajas case is asked to call the sheriff's office at 509-574-2500.

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