The man charged in a March 2022 murder on Capitol Hill has been transferred to a state hospital for mental health treatment that could allow his trial to finally move forward.

Alexander Jay was transferred to Western State Hospital on March 3rd, KIRO reports.

That’s the day after CHS reported on Jay’s long delayed transfer after the defendant was ordered to be restored to competency so he can stand trial the murder of Brent Wood who was found beaten to death on E Olive Way in March 2022.

In January, a motion from the King County Prosecutor’s office asking the court to order DSHS to transfer Jay to its facilities and provide the treatment was was denied in a court ruling based on precedent and a flood of similar cases. Jay’s case has been part of a massive backlog for incarcerated people in need of the state’s mental health services that could require federal intervention.

The court also ordered compensatory sanctions payments in the case paid to Jay at $250 a day. KIRO reports the state accumulated around $75,000 in sanctions in the case. Jay is also charged in a violent assault in a woman that spring during a 10-day string of violence that included the Wood murder.

The 41-year-old Jay has been ordered to undergo a 90-day treatment after which his competency will be reevaluated to makes sure the defendant is capable of understanding what he is charged with and can take part in his legal defense.

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