Man charged with murder after killing 80-year-old Seattle dog owner in carjacking

LOS ANGELES — King County prosecutors filed charges Friday afternoon against the man accused of stealing a car and running over and killing an 80-year-old woman in Seattle earlier this week.

According to King County Superior Court records, 48-year-old Jahmed K. Haynes was charged with first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, second-degree assault with use of a deadly weapon and first-degree cruelty to animals with use of a deadly weapon.

Investigators say Haynes encountered 80-year-old Ruth Dalton while she was driving in the Madison Valley neighborhood on Tuesday morning. Dalton worked as a dog walker and had several of her clients' dogs in her car at the time.

According to Seattle police, Haynes pushed Dalton out of her car and then ran over her as he tried to flee. Dalton fell to the ground on Martin Luther King Jr. Way near East Harrison Street and passersby rushed to her aid.

Bystanders and first responders attempted to resuscitate Dalton, but Dalton was pronounced dead at the scene. A bystander grabbed a baseball bat and struck the vehicle several times while Haynes fled the scene.

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According to charging documents, Haynes drove Dalton's Subaru Forester to the Brighton Playfields in south Seattle, where he abandoned the car, killed Dalton's dog, Prince, and left the animal in a trash can.

The Seattle Police Department's forensics team found Dalton's cellphone and took fingerprints. The results showed a match to Haynes' prints, which were in the database due to previous convictions.

Investigators began surveillance of Haynes before arresting him in the Capitol Hill neighborhood on Wednesday. Police said Haynes had Dalton's car keys and a knife on him at the time of the arrest. Investigators noted in an arrest report that the knife appeared to have blood and animal hair on it.

Haynes demanded a lawyer and was subsequently taken to jail.

Haynes has a criminal record dating back to the early 1990s. In 1993, he killed a man with his car in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and was convicted of negligent homicide.

In the 1990s, he was additionally convicted of a serious crime and in 1999 he had to serve a prison sentence for robbery.

In 2003, while incarcerated at Monroe State Prison, Haynes attacked two correctional officers during a cell inspection.

Charging documents say he stabbed the officer with a 12-inch sword. Haynes was charged with second-degree assault, but the charge was later reduced to assault and escaping from prison, according to a plea agreement with the Snohomish County District Attorney's Office.

Had Haynes been found guilty of the original charge of second-degree assault, it would have been his “third offense” in Washington state, which prosecutors said would have resulted in a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

According to court documents, Haynes remained in prison until 2017.

“In short, the level of violence of which the defendant is capable, not only on the date the crimes he is charged with were committed but also over the course of the past 30 years, demonstrates a propensity for violence that conclusively demonstrates that he is a danger to the community,” wrote Brent Kling, an assistant district attorney in King County.

A judge agreed with prosecutors' recommendation that Haynes be held in the King County Jail without bail until his arraignment in early September.

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Dalton was a mother, grandmother, and a beloved figure in the Seattle community. She ran a small dog-walking business and was known to help out at a local animal hospital.

Dalton's family told KOMO News they would organize a march in her honor and set up a donation account.

KOMO News will review court records Friday afternoon and update this story. Stay tuned for more information.