Rantz: Taxpayers to pay murder suspect $25,000. He’ll likely get more

Alexander Jay is a homeless man and prolific offender accused of a random stabbing and a random assault against a 62-year-old nurse, throwing her down a flight of concrete stairs. Now police are accusing him of murder. And he’s making a mint: it appears taxpayers will pay him at least $25,000 to sit in jail.

A judge determined Jay was incompetent to stand trial in April, ordering him to spend three months in an inpatient facility. The case will proceed when he can fully understand the charges he faces.

But under Governor Jay Inslee’s leadership, the state has put too few resources into treating people like Jay. The State Department of Social and Health Services does not have a bed for him at Western State Hospital, keeping him in jail instead of treatment.

Consequently, a judge ruled that DSHS violated Jay’s due process rights, awarding him $250 per day that he’s in jail and not treatment. The payments started accruing on May 9.

A spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says Jay is still in custody, but not treatment.

“We are estimating an admission to Western State Hospital of October 2, 2022; the amount of accrued sanctions will be $36,750 at that time, if the date of admission is included in the judgment, which would be paid in a lump sum,” a spokesperson for DSHS tells the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.

Since the judge’s ruling, there’s been a major development.

NEW: Prosecutors allege prolific offender Alexander Jay randomly attacked a nurse as she exited a light rail station in Seattle. She broke 3 ribs & her clavicle. Police say Jay is homeless. He has at least 22 convictions to his name.

READ THE DETAILS: https://t.co/x8qSS9mUwN pic.twitter.com/BmgOLYtspJ

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) March 13, 2022

Alexander Jay is now charged with murder

Between the time of the two alleged assaults on March 2 and his arrest on March 3 just after midnight, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office says Jay allegedly murdered a stranger, “bludgeoning him to death with a heavy piece of rebar.”

It allegedly occurred just a few hours after the two previous assaults.

“[Jay] inflicted numerous blows so great to the back of the victim’s head that his skull was fractured in places,” the prosecutor alleges in a court document. “After murdering the victim in the instant case, the defendant then took steps to hide the murder weapon.”

Police say Jay hid the 12″-13″ rebar inside a recycling bin near the body. DNA detected on the rebar was tested and pointed to Jay as a possible suspect.

Upon arrest, police noted blood on Jay’s boots and sent it to a lab for testing. It came back, police say, matching the murder victim. Surveillance footage placed him near the scene of the crime.

Media coverage made it harder to track Jay

Following the alleged attack against the nurse, Seattle Police released a bulletin informing the public that Jay was on the loose.

Police described Jay as a black male, not because his race was relevant to the alleged crime, but because it would help the public identify him so they could call the police. The Seattle Times omitted his race from their description, even though it could have helped lead to his arrest.

The paper made a similar omission when it covered Tyrone Bernard Wells. Police say he admitted to brutally murdering his girlfriend in Shoreline, with a hatchet, bolt cutters, and a set of drums.

Court documents say that Wells told police that he was awake for days, recently took meth, and read the Quran. 911 audio released by the court alleges Wells admitted he committed the murder “in the name of Allah.” Coverage in the Seattle Times omitted references to the Quran and falsely claimed that the charges didn’t include a motive.

I’ve previously opined that these decisions are political. The woke Seattle Times, I think, believes these details stigmatize marginalized communities. If they were white, Christian, Trump supporters, the Seattle Times would include those details in its headlines.

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