YAKIMA — A Yakima man charged with killing his stepfather in 2021 ran from a courtroom Wednesday morning in the Yakima County Courthouse.
Attorneys were in the process of finalizing jury selection around 10:40 a.m. when Jonathan A. Hidalgo bolted from a third-floor courtroom. He made it just outside the courtroom by a stairwell when a corrections officer tackled him and Hidalgo was handcuffed.
More than 20 prospective jurors were in the courtroom at the time Hidalgo made his escape attempt.
He was returned to the courtroom in handcuffs and leg shackles. Judge Jared Boswell allowed the trial to proceed with Hidalgo restrained.
Earlier in the day, Boswell rejected Hidalgo’s request to represent himself in the murder trial, which began Monday. Hidalgo said that his attorney, Charles Dold, was “unprofessional” and not listening to him.
But Boswell determined that Hidalgo, a high-school dropout, lacked the knowledge of the law and criminal court procedure to effectively represent himself.
He pointed out that Dold has 46 years of experience as an attorney and is highly professional.
Hidalgo, 21, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Charles Ellis Wade Mills, 45, at their home in the 900 block of South 29th Avenue on Jan. 27, 2021.
