Psychiatric patient had violent history. Does WA deserve blame for roommate’s killing?

Nov. 1—The state agency overseeing Western State Hospital is accused of gross negligence after a 69-year-old psychiatric patient was strangled to death by his roommate, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

Stephen Kellogg was discovered in his room by hospital staff in October 2022, The News Tribune previously reported. He had bodily injuries, a cord wrapped around his neck and a deep bite wound on his wrist. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he died of strangulation.

Kellogg’s roommate, Jason Conrad Day, was charged with Kellogg’s killing but acquitted in March after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity and could spend the rest of his life institutionalized, Pierce County Superior Court records show.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services is responsible for administering adult psychiatric inpatient programs operated by the state, including at Western State Hospital. DSHS knew or should have known that Day was dangerous and should have taken steps to prevent him from hurting fellow patients, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday.

“Western State Hospital was aware that Jason Day had a history of violently assaulting other patients,” the suit said. “In addition, patients of Western State Hospital directly reported that Jason Day was known to be violent and had previously attacked other patients.”

The lawsuit, filed by Kellogg’s brother as the personal representative of his estate, alleges that DSHS failed to properly monitor the patients or perform searches for anything that could be used as weapons. It said that Kellogg had been found on the floor, covered with a bloodstained blanket, and a watch had been laid on top of his bloody left eye.

Kellogg was pronounced dead by emergency responders 34 minutes after Day reported to a nurse that he had killed him, according to the complaint. The two men had shared a room for about three months.

A DSHS spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations Friday because the litigation is ongoing.

In 2022, DSHS said that the fatal attack occurred during a 15-minute window between hospital staff rounds. The building that housed the men maintained a higher level of security than the hospital’s general campus but wasn’t the highest-security unit.

Day, who had been at the psychiatric hospital in Lakewood for nearly a decade, had been involved in several documented incidents there in the years prior to the killing, including biting and choking another patient, The News Tribune previously reported.

Day, 53, was also charged with biting the nose off a patient at a psychiatric hospital in King County in 2013, leading to his admission into Western State Hospital, and accused in 2021 of biting the nose off a patient at WSH. He was not charged in the latter case due to a lack of sufficient evidence and conflicting statements, court records show.

Kellogg had been at the hospital since 1989 after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to a first-degree murder charge, according to DSHS and court records.

Meaghan Driscoll, an attorney representing Kellogg’s brother and estate in the lawsuit, said in a brief interview Thursday that Western State Hospital was supposed to be a place that protects and cares for its patients.

“Under their watch, a patient was allowed to be killed in a very violent and brutal way by another patient,” she said.

The suit is seeking unspecified damages to be proven at trial and legal fees.

This story was originally published November 1, 2024, 5:15 AM.