SPOKANE, Wash – The family of a man killed by a fellow patient at Eastern State Hospital wants the state of Washington to pay for the crime.
Daniel Zellmer was a patient at Eastern State Hospital, involuntarily committed there in March 2022.
On March 17 of that year, he was watching TV in a common area when the lawsuit says a man named Martay Ellis came to the doorway and gestured for Zellmer to come out of the room.
At the time, Ellis was a five-time convicted felon who was facing felony charges for attacking a woman in downtown Spokane.
According to our previous reporting, Ellis was at ESH because he could not understand the proceedings against him.
The lawsuit alleges Ellis was moved from another unit at the hospital because of his “aggressive, threatening and hostile behavior.”
According to the lawsuit filed in federal court this week, there is video of Ellis approaching Zellmer and gesturing for him come into the hallway.
There, attorneys say, Ellis spit at Zellmer, kicked him in the stomach and punched him 6-7 times in the face, dropping him to the ground.