An 80-year-old Seattle woman was killed in an apparent carjacking that occurred around 10 o’clock in the morning Tuesday, August 20th, according to Seattle Police.
The woman, identified as Ruth Dalton, is the owner of Granny’s Critter Care, according to The Seattle Times. Neighbors say the fatal carjacking occurred in the Madison Valley neighborhood near Lake Washington on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and East Harrison Street, just a block off of East Madison Street.
The suspected killer is still at large as of Wednesday morning. Dalton’s stolen car was found a few hours after the killing and one of the dogs Dalton cares for was found dead in a trash can near the recovered stolen car, according to news reports.
KVI’s John Carlson says Dalton’s killing by a suspected carjacker is a sign that “Seattle hits bottom” with this senseless crime victimizing an 80-year-old woman. And the woman’s death is compounded by the Seattle Police report that one of the dogs she cared for was found dead at a separate scene from Dalton’s death. To hear Carlson’s coverage of the story, click the play button below.
A neighbor near the fatal carjacking tells KOMO News that Dalton’s death “goes part and parcel for the kind of anarchy we have in Seattle now”.
Carlson adds, “you wonder if Seattle’s lost its sense of shock, of being aghast, of being prompted to furious action (in response to on-going crime problems). But this incident should do it.
Carlson says Dalton’s killing should spark some deep soul searching among Seattle’s residents and elected officials to get serious about police staffing and public safety, concluding, “Its again just an awful, awful story. But its what I’ve been telling you on the Commute now for the last several years which is that crime… has gotten increasingly random and increasingly vicious.”
