Man charged with killing 80-year-old Seattle dog walker to undergo mental health check

The man charged with murdering an 80-year-old, beloved dog-walker in Seattle’s Madison Valley Neighborhood will undergo a mental evaluation after he refused to appear at his arraignment Thursday in King County Superior Court. The judge in the case wants to know if 48-year-old Jahmed Haynes is competent before entering a plea.

Court documents say on August 20, Haynes paced back in forth in front of the victim, Ruth Dalton, as she sat inside her car. Police said Haynes then attacked Dalton, pulling her out of her car before running over her. Several witnesses tried to intervene including one man who grabbed a bat, but police said Haynes pulled out a knife.

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Dalton’s car was found later near Madison Park. Police said Dalton’s dog, Prince, was also found stabbed to death and left inside a recycling bin in the park.

Family and friends of Dalton packed the courtroom before Thursday’s arraignment.

Dalton’s granddaughter, Melanie Roberts, was hoping to face Haynes in person. However, Roberts said she’s not surprised the suspect refused to come out of his jail cell.

“I feel like it’s a coward’s way out,” Roberts said in a hallway outside the courtroom. “He messed with the wrong woman and I think he understood pretty quickly that she was fighting him and she wasn’t an easy grandma.”

On Wednesday, hundreds of people and their pups walked from the scene of Dalton’s murder at Harrison Street and Martin Luther King Way to Madison Park to remember the 80-year-old. Most people said they knew her as a kind person who loved to walk a small pack of her neighbors’ dogs.

In court, dozens of people from around the world, from Australia to South America and Europe, joined the courtroom proceedings via videoconference. Roberts was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for her family and her grandmother.

“It’s deserved,” said Roberts. “She deserves this recognition of her life and her love.”

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Haynes has an extensive criminal history including vehicular manslaughter and robbery. In this case, Haynes is charged with murder in the first degree, assault in the second degree, and animal cruelty in the first degree.

If convicted on the murder or assault charge, prosecutors said that would be Haynes’ third strike meaning he would automatically be sentenced to life in prison.

At his arraignment hearing, the judge said she wanted Haynes’ mental evaluation to be completed by September 26.

Luke Duecy is a reporter for KIRO Newsradio.