Hoquiam murder suspect will undergo competency evaluation

Shana Soliz not scheduled to return to Superior Court until evaluation at Western Hospital is done

By Terri Harber • December 22, 2016 8:30 am
(Terri Harber | Grays Harbor Newspaper Group) Shana Soliz walks back to her seat in the courtroom after appearing in front of Judge F. Mark McCauley on Friday in Grays Harbor County Superior Court. Soliz is the suspect in a fatal stabbing of Paul Mottinger on Nov. 21. Prosecuting and defense attorneys can be seen in the background.
(Terri Harber | Grays Harbor Newspaper Group) Shana Soliz walks back to her seat in the courtroom after appearing in front of Judge F. Mark McCauley on Friday in Grays Harbor County Superior Court. Soliz is the suspect in a fatal stabbing of Paul Mottinger on Nov. 21. Prosecuting and defense attorneys can be seen in the background.

Shana Hope Soliz, the Hoquiam woman facing a first-degree murder charge after allegedly stabbing a man to death on Nov. 21, will undergo an in-patient mental health evaluation to determine whether she’s competent to stand trial.

“I knew there was no reason to wait,” Jason Walker, deputy prosecuting attorney for Grays Harbor County, said after appearing in Grays Harbor County Superior Court on Friday, Dec. 16. Walker and Soliz’s defense attorney, David Arcuri, agreed it was an appropriate next action in Soliz’s case and Walker explained that to Judge Mark McCauley.

“We both knew it was coming and that this was necessary,” Walker said. “We wanted to get her in line as soon as possible.”

The attorneys entered into evidence Friday a television news report about her first court appearance, on Nov. 22 in Grays Harbor County District Court. In the report, Soliz explained that she had stabbed Paul Mottinger multiple times because he wanted her “oil” and said she was “defending her property.”

Mottinger, 59, had been living with Soliz in her Hoquiam residence at the time of the stabbing. Police said she began stabbing Mottinger with a hunting knife inside her home, then followed him outside to the street where she continued her attack. She went back inside her home after she stopped stabbing Mottinger, who was found alive, but died later. Soliz was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement, according to previous reports.

Soliz, 45, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and found to have use disorders with opioids, stimulants and cannabis, according to documents from earlier assault cases. She was receiving medications to treat mental illness while in the county jail earlier this year and her condition appeared to stabilize, according to court documents. That incarceration was in connection to another incident — a non-fatal stabbing of another man that was ultimately classified as a third-degree assault.

On Thursday, McCauley reset the defendant’s bail, again to $500,000, after the case was moved from District Court to Superior Court this week.

Soliz’s next court appearance is slated for Jan. 9. Her 15-day evaluation will take place at Western State Hospital. Three weeks between court appearances is anticipated to provide personnel at Western enough time to complete the process, Walker added.