Attack in Tacoma psychiatric hospital leaves woman near death, prosecutors say
A man is accused of beating a 63-year-old woman while she was unconscious in a Tacoma psychiatric hospital on Saturday.
Prosecutors charged Elias Santos Salcedo, 25, with attempted first-degree murder for the assault that occurred at Wellfound Behavioral Health on South 19th Street.
The woman who was attacked is in critical condition and might die from her injuries, prosecutors wrote in charging documents. Salcedo’s charges will be upgraded to first-degree murder if she dies.
On Monday, Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille ordered Salcedo be held at the Pierce County Jail to undergo a competency test, according to court records.
Details of the incident from charging documents
Officers were dispatched at 8:12 p.m. after it was reported a patient assaulted a patient at the facility. The woman was unconscious and bloody, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Salcedo was in a secured room after employees subdued him during the attack. Officers arrested Salcedo and took him to the jail, documents show. Tacoma Fire personnel provided medical aid to the woman, and she was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Documents say the woman barely had a pulse and took shallow breaths.
Officers spoke to seven people who witnessed the attack, five of them staff members.
The assault reportedly took place in a hallway, documents show. Video surveillance showed Salcedo pacing up and down the area, and the woman was walking towards him. Salcedo allegedly punched her in the face before she fell onto the floor and lost consciousness, documents show.
The video allegedly showed Salcedo squatting down before clasping his hands together to strike her head. Patients and staff tried to push him off her. Salcedo walked off before returning to assault her again with his hands clasped together, documents show. Staff pulled him off, and the footage allegedly showed him threatening staff before returning to assault the woman a third time. Staff members used a sedative to subdue him, documents show.
It did not appear the woman tried to defend herself, documents show. One nurse told detectives she thought Salcedo was trying to kill the woman. Another nurse said when he locked Salcedo in the room and asked him what happened, the defendant allegedly said he hurt someone.
The woman’s roommate told detectives that the victim is a nice person who stayed in her room most of the time. Documents show all the eyewitnesses told detectives the attack was unprovoked.
Salcedo was convicted in 2024 in Stevens County for three counts of third-degree assault, according to court documents.
This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 2:45 PM.
