Man accused of 12-hour Seattle crime spree, including murder, again does not appear in court

SEATTLE - The man accused of shoving a woman down the stairs at a Seattle light rail station and for a deadly beating that happened just a few hours later again did not appear in court.

The King County Prosecutor's Office filed the felony murder charge earlier in August. Prosecutors say 40-year-old Alexander Jay beat 31-year-old Brent Wood to death on March 3 around 12:30 a.m.

Jay is already accused of several violent crimes just hours before this deadly attack. Investigators say Jay attacked a woman at the light rail station on Mar. 2, 2022 breaking her ribs and her collarbone. They also say he stabbed a 30-year-old woman ten times, just 30 minutes after the first attack, 

He faced charges of first and second-degree assault for these attacks.

Jay has been held in the King County Jail since Mar. 10. However, in April, a judge deemed him incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to spend the next three months in an inpatient facility, getting mental health treatment until he understands the charges against him.

Months later, Jay remained in jail. 

In June, Judge Johanna Bender ruled the State Department of Social and Health Services must pay Jay $250 a day until he is out of jail and receiving mental health treatment.

The issue is there is no bed space available, officials with DSHS told FOX 13 News. So, Jay sits in jail continuing to rack up tens of thousands of dollars taxpayers will have to foot.

According to DSHS, Jay is expected to get out of jail by Oct. 2. At that point, the state will owe him $36,750.

"It’s ridiculous. It’s not right. He shouldn’t be getting money," said Nathan Wood, Brent's younger brother.

However, on Aug. 16, Judge Bender altered her ruling so that Jay will not directly receive the money. Instead, the tens of thousands of dollars will go to a "protective payee or agreed responsible adult".

Jay is just one of hundreds of people awaiting bed space at state mental health facilities. So far, the state has paid out $93,700 in similar cases.

There are also several other pending payouts, including Jay's, which equal $88,150.

DSHS says they are seeing the highest demand for beds ever.

DSHS responded to these compensatory payouts in a statement that reads:

"We as a department have taken the position that we oppose payment of these compensatory sanctions because we are taking the right steps and measures to provide these services for our clients awaiting inpatient services. We believe these fines take money out of the very system that is designed to help them and provide them services."

DSHS officials say Jay has not received any money yet.

DSHS says they expect to have nearly 60 new beds available for people like Jay by the fall.

According to court documents, Jay has a criminal record dating back to 2000. His recent charges include home burglary, assault, attempted assault, and domestic violence. In total, Jay has had seven cases in King County in the last five years.

Jay is being held in lieu of $5,650,000.