This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
Serious questions are being raised after a 26-year-old man, accused of attempting to push a stranger in front of an approaching light rail at Sound Transit’s Northgate station last week, was once deemed mentally unfit to stand trial for allegedly stabbing his sister in 2019, then released from a state mental hospital after that stabbing case was dismissed.
Elisio Melendez is now charged with attempted murder. An image captured from surveillance video of the Northgate incident shows the victim holding a cell phone with a messenger bag slung around his shoulders, standing on a platform facing the tracks. As the train approaches the victim from the right, Melendez’s arms appear to be extended, his hand is on the victim’s back, and his legs are leaning forward…