Suspect arrested in carjacking, killing of 80-year-old Seattle woman

Seattle Police announced the arrest Wednesday of a 48-year-old Seattle man in connection with a carjacking Tuesday morning that resulted in the death of an 80-year-old dog walker and the fatal stabbing of her dog.

The victim, Ruth Dalton, owned a dog-walking business called Grandma’s Critter Care.

Police say the suspect mortally wounded Dalton during the carjacking Tuesday morning near the corner of MLK Way East and East Harrison Street in Seattle’s Madison Valley.

KUOW does not typically name crime suspects until they have been formally charged.

Witnesses told police that the suspect, who was in the passenger seat of Dalton’s blue Subaru Forester, tried to push her out of the vehicle.

When several bystanders tried to intervene, the suspect produced a knife and then quickly backed the car across the road and smashed into two parked vehicles, fatally wounding Dalton, who was partially outside of the car.

Police responding to the scene found Dalton in the middle of the street and a bystander performing CPR to try to revive her. Police and Seattle Fire officials continued trying to resuscitate Dalton, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Later on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Eric Barden said, police received a report that someone was stabbing a dog with a knife near Brighton Playfield in the Columbia City neighborhood, about five miles south of where the carjacking occurred.

Barden said a dead dog was found at the scene with tags that said it belonged to Dalton. Nearby, her abandoned Subaru was found.

Inside the vehicle, police found Dalton’s phone. Barden said investigators found the suspect’s fingerprints on the phone.

At least two other dogs were found in the car and one escaped at the scene of the carjacking.

Police backed by a SWAT team surveilled the suspect’s residence and he was arrested Wednesday morning. At the time of his arrest, Barden said the suspect had a knife on him that had traces of blood, as well as keys to the stolen Subaru.

Barden said the suspect faces charges of murder in the first degree and animal cruelty in the first degree. The suspect has eight prior felony convictions, include one count of vehicular homicide, and a history of mental health concerns.

Barden called the crime “a senseless and violent act.”

“Start to finish, this case is troubling and horrific,” he said.

But Barden commended the bystanders who tried to come to Dalton’s aid, as well as those who worked with police to quickly locate and arrest the suspect.

“This is an excellent example of citizens coming to the aid of their fellow community member and then cooperating with police from start to finish,” he said. “This was a great collaboration with community and collaboration within the police department to get this man off the streets.”