Further info on the Pioneer Square murder (Seattle: foreclosure, daycare)

[mkarch]

*Since the last thread got derailed in a gun debate, here's a new one - please start your own thread if you want to make this about firearms

Now that more info is coming out about the suspect it's getting kind of errie for me because his life was similar to the crazy quazi-homeless meth head that was harassing me the past few months. His mental condition deteriorated under heavy meth use to the point where he was barely coherent or functional for much of the time and appeared to have some symptoms of psychosis towards the end.

A few years ago he had a house, wife, kids and a daycare business. By the time he landed in my neighborhood he was in his 40's, had a DV conviction, divorce, no custody, judgements, bad debt, no job, a raging meth addiction, numerous run ins with the law in multiple jurisdictions all over western washington and multiple stints in drug treatment. After he moved in he picked up more charges for assault and harassment, and was frequently involved in fist fights or other confrontations - in one case he went after a neighbor with a baseball bat. Dozens of calls went in to the SPD for creating a public nuisance. Despite police warnings that he was a dangerous and unstable individual, there wasn't a whole lot they could do until he committed more violence.

It's been really eye opening to see up close how few resources the police have to deal with people that are clearly mentally ill but do not want help.

He went from owning a half million dollar house and two businesses to homeless and charged with murder. 44-year-old Donnell Jackson is the man accused in a violent, unprovoked stabbing in Pioneer Square.

Police say is he is homeless, and told them he'd only been living in Seattle for about six months. He also told investigators he'd been off his medications for schizophrenia for about four months.

Before living in Seattle, KING 5 has learned Jackson's lifestyle was drastically different.

While living in Las Vegas, he owned a five bedroom house in a gated community that was worth nearly $500,000. During that time, neighbors who knew Jackson as 'Dee' say he ran a landscaping business and flipped homes.

Records show he filed for bankruptcy three times over the years, the most recent filing in May of 2010. The house he once owned has since gone into foreclosure.

In 2011, police say Jackson was arrested for recklessly causing a forest fire, one of several run-ins he had with authorities in California and Nevada.

After being taken into custody after the September 13th stabbing in Pioneer Square, Jackson told investigators he believed the victims were part of a group that had been stalking and trying to kill him.

Seattle stabbing suspect once owned $500,000 house, two businesses | KING5.com Seattle

[PollyGlott]

Originally Posted by mkarch

*Since the last thread got derailed in a gun debate, here's a new one - please start your own thread if you want to make this about firearms
Now that more info is coming out about the suspect it's getting kind of errie for me because his life was similar to the crazy quazi-homeless meth head that was harassing me the past few months. His mental condition deteriorated under heavy meth use to the point where he was barely coherent or functional for much of the time and appeared to have some symptoms of psychosis towards the end.
A few years ago he had a house, wife, kids and a daycare business. By the time he landed in my neighborhood he was in his 40's, had a DV conviction, divorce, no custody, judgements, bad debt, no job, a raging meth addiction, numerous run ins with the law in multiple jurisdictions all over western washington and multiple stints in drug treatment. After he moved in he picked up more charges for assault and harassment, and was frequently involved in fist fights or other confrontations - in one case he went after a neighbor with a baseball bat. Dozens of calls went in to the SPD for creating a public nuisance. Despite police warnings that he was a dangerous and unstable individual, there wasn't a whole lot they could do until he committed more violence.
It's been really eye opening to see up close how few resources the police have to deal with people that are clearly mentally ill but do not want help.
Seattle stabbing suspect once owned $500,000 house, two businesses | KING5.com Seattle

I find it mighty disturbing how many unhinged folks are out there, lashing out at innocent people.

[Garethe]

Wow, it just goes to show that anybody is capable of crime, not just the traditional social strats traditionally associated with it (for those of us that took Sociology and did the stratification experiments). I had scary run-ins like that at times in CD, one time somebody strung out on something was trying to break into one of those parking boxes where people place their money. Instinct told me I should turn around rather than pass him, but I kept going anyway and man was that ever a mistake because he began to follow me. I picked up my pace and eventually out-walked him. But it was still very frightening and disturbing, and I made it a point from then on to never walk down a dark, unlit street like that.

However, I think that what we are seeing now is the trickle down effect of strapped state budgets and the closure of mental health facilities, something they warned us about for years and Seattle streets are filled with it, but not unlike any other large downtown area, Kansas City is so bad that a private security force patrols at all times, anybody that sadly appears to be a vagrant is "encouraged" to move on....move where IDK because they are certainly not welcome anyplace else, downtowns are the last safe harbors for people with these issues though.

Remember Pike Street? Back in the day, you could not walk from PPM to Capital Hill without being hit up for drugs, money, prostitution, etc. This was before the convention center and bus tunnel went in. Everybody who cared about safety never went above 6th Avenue, you took the bus. 1st Avenue was another street I was always told to avoid. By the 90s though these areas got cleaned up and the down and out got pushed to Pioneer Square, then Belltown, then Broadway, then the Ave and Market St....as each area gets redeveloped and cleaned up, the undesirables of society move on; the problem never gets dealt with.

Perhaps if Seattle had a program like Kansas City, which is funded in part, by private downtown concerns, then these people can be identified sooner. Maybe Seattle already has it, but I don't remember seeing it and I've only been gone 16 months.