Disturbing doorbell footage shows the moment neighbors rushed to help a Seattle dog walker after a convict dragged her to her death during a carjacking.
Ruth Dalton, 80, was brutally attacked by Jahmed Haynes, 48, near Martin Luther King Jr. Way East and Harrison Street in the Madison Valley neighborhood shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday.
At the time of the violent attack, Dalton – who started her dog walking business ‘Grandma’s Critter Care’ 35 years ago – had several dogs inside her vehicle that she had just walked in a park.
It was there that Haynes, who has eight prior felonies and a history of mental health issues, pushed the elderly woman into the passenger seat, out of the car and ran her over before driving away in his vehicle.
On Wednesday, the SWAT team arrested Haynes at his home and found a bloody knife and Dalton’s car keys, police said. Just five miles away, police found the lifeless body of his dog Prince and his vehicle.
Not content with killing Dalton, Haynes tortured his beloved dog to death, police say.
On Tuesday, shortly before 10 a.m., Ruth Dalton, 80 (pictured), was brutally attacked in a carjacking by Jahmed Haynes, 48, in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood.
Haynes (pictured) pushed Dalton into the passenger seat, out of the car, and ran her over before driving off in his vehicle before fleeing the scene.
Terrifying footage showed a group of brave neighbours rushing to help the grandmother in her final moments.
A woman can be heard screaming “Oh my God!” as she runs out of her home with a man right behind her.
A boy then steps out onto the front porch as the woman yells at him to come back inside: “Lock the door! Lock the door!”
John Ayala, another nearby neighbor, was also seen running towards Dalton while trying to save his life.
“I heard two very loud screams,” Ayala said. KING 5.
“When I got to her, she was still breathing. I did what I could to try to revive her, but the situation had already reached a critical point,” he added.
Another man ran to help the woman and tried to stop Haynes by hitting the car window with a bat.
Dalton, who started her dog walking business ‘Grandma’s Critter Care’ 35 years ago, had several dogs inside her vehicle that she had just been walking in a park. (pictured: an undated image of her dogs being walked)
The SWAT team arrested Haynes at his home and found a bloody knife and Dalton’s car keys. Just five miles away, police found the lifeless body of his dog Prince and his vehicle.
The day after the heinous crime, Melanie Roberts, Dalton’s granddaughter, thanked Ayala for trying to save her loved one.
His heartbroken granddaughter Melanie Roberts said Dalton had a great love for animals, including Prince (pictured).
“Knowing that someone who cared about her, even a stranger, was with her, is comforting,” Roberts said.
Roberts said her grandmother had a great love for animals, including her puppy Prince.
“Her dog left the same day she did. They are together and I’m thankful for that,” she said.
Her heartbroken granddaughter has created a Facebook page in memory of her late grandmother.
She explained that Dalton had started his dog-walking business in 1989 to raise money to help Roberts attend a private Christian school.
Roberts explained that Dalton had started her dog-walking business in 1989 to raise money to help her attend a private Christian school. (pictured: Dalton and her granddaughter Roberts)
“She called it Grandma’s Critter Care because it said, ‘Well, I’m Melanie’s grandma… and I take care of all the critters,'” she wrote.
“And so it was in the beginning… it wasn’t just dogs and cats! There were birds, reptiles and even some ferrets!”
Dalton was also a “proud” great-grandmother to Roberts’ daughter, Emily.
“She visited us in the hospital every day for six weeks while Emily was in the NICU,” Roberts said.
A memorial was installed in a tree near the site and was wrapped in beautiful messages from friends, family and grieving community residents.
Dalton (pictured) was also a “proud great-grandmother” to Roberts’ daughter Emily.
A memorial was installed in a tree near the site and was wrapped in beautiful messages from friends, family and grieving community residents.
“In January 1997, she walked into my floral studio. That unconditional love that dogs give, that’s what Ruth represented,” Nisha Klein told the outlet.
Pam Newcomer didn’t even know Dalton, but she wanted to pay her respects.
“I got emotional and wanted to go and leave her some flowers,” she said.
Haynes had previously been convicted of hit-and-run vehicular homicide in Seattle in 1993. Fox 13 reported.
He remains in prison and is expected to make his first court appearance soon.
Roberts wrote: ‘8 prior felony convictions…should never have been on the streets.’