Mary Kay Letourneau, who married her former 6th-grade student after she was convicted of raping him, died Tuesday, July 7, 2020 of cancer.
She was 58.
Letourneau was a 34-year old teacher at Shorewood Elementary School in Burien in 1996 when she met the 12/13-year old Vili Fualaau.
At about 1:20 a.m. on June 19, 1996, police discovered them in a minivan parked at the Des Moines Marina.
She plead guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape of him.
She later married Fualaau, and while awaiting sentencing, gave birth to his child.
The couple was known to live in Normandy Park, and they divorced in August, 2019.
Letourneau become an infamous international celebrity for the case.
I was a student at Shorewood Elementary in Burien, WA when Mary Kay Letourneau was one of our 3 6th grade teachers. I wasn’t in her class, but a lot of my friends were and they really liked her. I also went to high school with the kid she had the affair with. Sad to hear this. https://t.co/f7KGpbZ5TU
— Yonathan Seleshi (@yonathanseleshi) July 8, 2020
I covered the Mary Kay Letourneau case from start to finish for the Highline Times in Burien. Here are the highlights.
During a brief phone interview after charges were filed, she said everyone would understand once the full story came out. Got correct spelling of last name.— Marc Stiles (@MarcStilesPSBJ) July 8, 2020
Seriously, I delivered pizzas to her and her little boyfriend the same day that she got out of Prison. I was working for Round Table Pizza is Burien, WA.
— Jeffrey Hoffman (@Jeffrey86804400) July 8, 2020
Both her and villi came thru the elephant car washin in burien once when I worked there.
— TonyFazekas (@fazekas_tony) July 8, 2020
