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An 80-year-old Seattle dog walker was run over and killed when a felon with a long criminal history attempted to carjack her vehicle with two dogs inside, one of which was later found fatally stabbed,
Jahmed Haynes, 48, allegedly stole Ruth Dalton’s car in broad daylight after he forced his way into her Subaru and tried to push her out of the driver’s door.
Haynes is accused of then dragging her out of the car and pulling a knife out as people ran to her aid, according to police.
Investigators say that he then put the stolen car into reverse, backed into two parked cars and ran Dalton over leaving her to die. Haynes fled the scene in Dalton’s vehicle.
Witnesses tried to save the victim’s life using CPR but she was declared dead at the scene.
Hours after the attack, police were notified of a man “hurting a dog” at Brighton Playfield, a city park about five miles from where Haynes stole Dalton’s vehicle.
An officer responded to the scene and found Dalton’s dog, Prince Eric, had been stabbed to death. Cops found the dog’s body in a recycling bin. Dalton’s car was found abandoned in the park. The car’s windshield had been damaged as had the rear of the car.
Using Dalton’s phone, authorities traced Haynes’s fingerprints to both crime scenes. He was taken into custody near his home in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood on charges of homicide and animal cruelty. He’s currently in the King County Correctional Facility.
Officials found a bloody knife and Dalton’s car keys at the man’s residence.
He’d previously had eight felony convictions and a reported history of mental health concerns. His last arrest took place in 2005.
Police have laid out their intentions to request Haynes be charged with murder in the first degree under the felony murder rule and animal cruelty in the first degree.
Dalton cared for animals for 35 years at her business, named “Grandma’s Critter Care.” PETA has announced it would be adding her name to the organization’s Tree of Life memorial at their headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. The memorial is dedicated to people whose extraordinary actions made a difference for animals.
Those who knew her said she’d be dearly missed following the incident.
“She is somebody that people really loved, and she’s been a neighborhood fixture in the Madison Park neighborhood for a long time,” Susan Lindsay, one of the woman’s friends, told KOMO. “People really loved her.”
Melanie Roberts, Dalton’s granddaughter, told the outlet: “I hope she’s at peace. We all love her, everybody loves her, and I know she’s looking down.
“She was feisty. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that she would try to make sure her client’s dogs were safe. She wouldn’t have thought two seconds about herself.”
