Man sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing fellow Eastern State Hospital patient and attacking woman downtown

A 27-year-old man who brutally beat a woman in an unprovoked downtown Spokane attack and then killed an Eastern State Hospital patient six months later was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Martay L. Ellis pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the death of Daniel Zellmer and the first-degree assault of Tiffany Turner, according to court documents. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michelle Szambelan then sentenced Ellis to 215 months in prison.

In September 2021, Ellis was walking near Second Avenue and Jefferson Street when Turner drove up in her car beside him, according to court documents. Street cameras show Ellis made some type of gesture to her, so she got out of her car to speak to him.

When he approached her, he threw a punch and tackled her to the ground, according to court records. The two struggled in the street as Ellis repeatedly punched Turner in the head until she stopped moving. Ellis stood up and stomped on her head multiple times, court records said, then ran away.

Turner was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she was intubated due to “significant head trauma.” She has since been released.

Ellis was civilly committed at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake after the assault. In March 2022, while at Eastern State, Ellis punched, kicked and stomped Zellmer multiple times in a common area of their ward, killing him.

The charges were dismissed because Ellis was found incompetent to stand trial, but later refiled after he was taken to a less restrictive area of a state hospital.

Ellis will serve three years of probation when he’s released from prison.