Eight-time felon carjacks and murders 80-year-old woman and her dog in Seattle

SEATTLE, WA - Ruth Dalton, an 80-year-old Seattle grandmother, was murdered Tuesday when a carjacker forced her out of her vehicle, struck her with it and sped off with her dog in the back. He later stabbed the dog to death according to Seattle Police.

The suspect in the gruesome attack, Jahmed Haynes, 48, was arrested Wednesday after police tracked him through an animal control report that a man was abusing a dog approximately five miles south of the crime scene. Dalton’s dog, named Prince Eric, was found dead from multiple stab wounds in a nearby dumpster.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Dalton was driving in her Subaru through the neighborhood of Madison Valley with at least two dogs in the vehicle with her when the suspect allegedly entered her car from the passenger side.

Officials explained during the Wednesday press conference that there was a struggle between them and the vehicle went off-road. Passing drivers stopped to intervene the police said and one was reportedly threatened at knife point by the assailant. The attempted rescuer was forced to retreat and the suspect jumped back into Dalton’s vehicle, reversed into two vehicles and struck the 80-year-old woman, killing her. The suspect then fled in her vehicle with her dog still inside.

According to The New York Post, a bystander armed themselves with a “large stick or bat,” but it was too late and the carjacker made his escape. Haynes allegedly left Dalton to die while stunned bystanders rushed to attempt CPR on the stricken woman.

According to the Seattle PD blotter, SPD detectives and SWAT arrested Haynes near his Capitol Hill residence Wednesday. They were initially tipped off by a report from Seattle Animal Control that Dalton's dog was found stabbed to death in a dumpster at Brighton Playfield. 

The blotter wrote, "Following latent fingerprint evidence recovered at Brighton Playfield, homicide detectives located the suspect’s residence not far from where the victim was killed. Multiple detectives conducted surveillance in the area and tracked the man as he was walking outside. 

"At about 10:30 a.m., the SWAT team was deployed to take the suspect into custody. He was transported to Seattle Police Headquarters and interviewed by detectives. Police recovered a knife with blood on it and keys to the stolen vehicle. They have been collected as evidence."



SPD Deputy Chief Eric Barden told reporters that Haynes was booked into King County Correctional Facility and is expected to face charges of murder in the first degree under the felony murder rule, as well as animal cruelty in the first degree.

He added that Haynes has a “history of mental health concerns.” The Post reported that Haynes has past convictions for vehicular homicide and hit and run, as well as possession of a controlled substance on school grounds and first-degree attempted robbery.