SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane man is now facing second-degree murder charges after the patient he attacked at Eastern State Hospital died, according to court records.
Martay L. Ellis, 24, is accused of assaulting a patient at Eastern State Hospital months after he brutally attacked a woman in downtown Spokane. In the downtown attack, he was initially charged with a first-degree assault, but was found incompetent to stand trial for his attack. The patient he is accused of attacking at Eastern State died on Saturday, nine days after the attack.
According to court documents, at about 9:30 a.m. on March 17, deputies responded to a report of an assault at Eastern State Hospital. When they arrived, hospital staff said two patients, Ellis being one of them, had gotten into a physical fight after an argument.
Ellis was caught on video surveillance punching and kicking another patient and repeatedly stomping on his face and head while he lay on the ground, court documents said.
The patient who was attacked suffered from multiple skull fractures and remained at Sacred Heart Medical Center on 'comfort care' for more than a week due to his severe life-threatening injuries.
Ellis is currently being held in the Spokane County Jail on $750,000 bond.
The attack at Eastern State Hospital comes just a month after Ellis was found incompetent to stand trial for his attack on a woman in downtown Spokane.
Ellis was caught on video stomping on a woman’s head and kicking her while she was unconscious in September 2021. The victim, later identified as Tiffany Turner, is now out of the hospital and recovering, according to her brother. Court documents said Turner had cuts and bruising to her face and head.
After the attack on Turner, Ellis was arrested on a first-degree assault charge, a class A felony, and was held on a $500,000 bond. Spokane police said he is a five-time convicted felon with prior convictions that include felony assault and robbery.
However, Ellis was found incompetent to stand trial by the Spokane County Superior Court in February. According to documents, the court found that Ellis "lacks the capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings" against him and to assist in his own defense due to "a mental disease or defect."
Documents also state that Ellis did not undergo competency restoration.
Because the felony charge of first-degree assault against Ellis was dropped, he was admitted to the state hospital to undergo evaluation, where he attacked Zellmer.