Man charged in fatal Tacoma psych hospital attack found mentally competent
A man has been found mentally competent to hear the charges against him in the death of a 63-year-old woman at Wellfound Behavioral Health in Tacoma.
Prosecutors initially charged Elias Santos Salcedo, 25, with attempted first-degree murder for the March 14 assault. He was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation while he was held in the Pierce County Jail.
Salcedo was charged with first-degree murder after he was found mentally fit to hear the charges against him Wednesday. Judge Thomas Quinlan set bail at $1 million, according to Adam Faber, spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Salcedo was a patient at the facility when he allegedly knocked the woman unconscious. Charging documents show the woman, also a patient, was walking towards Salcedo in a hallway when he allegedly struck her. Witnesses said that staff and patients had to force Salcedo off the woman three times while he beat her with his hands.
Witnesses also told police the attack was unprovoked.
The woman was identified as Kristine Renee Cardinal of Tacoma, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office’s public information portal. Her cause and manner of death are listed as pending. That means additional information is needed to make a determination.
