The man charged in the murder of dog walker Ruth Dalton has been deemed not fit to stand trial after a court-ordered mental health evaluation.
Jahmed Haynes exhibits characteristics of “Unspecified Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder” behaviors, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Cannabis (Synthetic) Use Disorder and is not competent to stand trial, according to the report from the Office of Forensic Mental Health Services.
Haynes must undergo treatment at Western State Hospital in an effort to restore his competency including the use of “psychotropic medications.” He cannot be reevaluated for at least 90 days.
“During this evaluation, Mr. Haynes demonstrated significant difficulty engaging ni meaningful
communication. His responses were often disorganized, nonsensical, or irrelevant. While he was able to provide some correct factual information, his responses were impaired by the deficits ni communication consistent with psychosis,” the evaluator’s report based on an interview and study of Haynes’s past mental health treatment reads. “The quality of speech and thought process made it difficult to fully assess his legal knowledge.”
Haynes, 48, has been charged with assault, animal cruelty, and first degree murder for the August killing of the 80-year-old dog walker who was murdered in an August carjacking with her dog, Prince.
CHS reported here on the large memorial walk earlier this month as loved ones and the neighborhood honored Dalton’s life and political leaders said more must be done to address public safety in the city.
Dalton’s killing has also brought criticism of prosecutors, the courts, and the justice system. The King County Prosecutor’s office says Haynes’s criminal history is extensive and that he had been imprisoned for crimes including a 1993 vehicular homicide in Seattle and a 1999 armed robbery in Renton until recently following a conviction in 2003 during his incarceration that added 15 more years to his sentence through 2021 after Haynes attacked a Monroe prison guard with a crude knife fashioned from a 12-inch piece of metal.
Mental health competency procedures can take years to play out in the court system. In 2009, CHS reported on the long process that led to restored competency and a guilty plea in the 2007 murder of Capitol Hill resident Shannon Harps.
In another grisly Capitol Hill homicide, the suspect required multiple hospitalizations in attempts to restore his competency for trial.
Prosecutors said Haynes could be sentenced to life in prison under the charges in the carjacking slaying.
During his interview, Haynes was particularly focused on the death penalty, according to the report.
“Mr. Haynes was asked several times fi he was saying he wanted the death penalty and each time he answered affirmatively,” the evaluator wrote. “He seemed to suggest that he wanted the death penalty fi they charged him with a particular charge, but it was difficult to understand.”
It has been more than a decade since the last execution in Washington. In 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation officially eliminating the death penalty in the state.
$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE THIS SPRING
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 
Our criminal justice system since Progressive Reform continues to focus all its energy on the rights of the accused, and gives nothing to public safety or the rights of crime victims.
RTFA my guy, he is receiving treatment so that he can stand trial, not so he can be released. this is not some new progressive development, it is a central tenet of justice systems around the world and has been for ages.
He’s not getting away with it. He’ll likely face trial when it’s determined he’s mentally competent. This isn’t a “progressive reform.” Courts have been following this rule for eons.
The public must be protected from Haynes for the duration of his life, whether it be as a convicted felon in prison or as a patient at Western State
Hospital. If he in the future is set free, he will just stop taking his medications and again commit heinous crimes.
He was competent enough to perform a carjacking and a murder, but not competent enough to understand that those actions were illegal?
While it is rare, when a person is delusional they may do things that are heinous, are illegal, but they, at that moment, don’t have an understanding of why it’s wrong. They may even feel they are simply defending themselves and have to do what they are doing.
There was a case up here on the hill years ago where a man killed two strangers, one with a hatchet, in front of a group of horrified school children…. He was disastrously delusional.. One of his victims had simply given him a cigarette which he believed after smoking, that was poisoned, therefore he’d have to kill the man before he died himself… The other, voices told him that they guy had given his sister (he didn’t even have a sister) a fatal std, that this complete stranger was hurting his family and that he needed to act…
He knew he was hurting those people… but in the moment he was absolutely convinced that it was the right thing to do and that he was completely justified.. He also denied he had a mental illness.
He was eventually acquitted by reason of insanity – but also found to be a grave danger to the public. So far as I can tell he remains at Western State..