The King County Prosecutor’s office says it is gathering evidence in an attempt to prosecute the suspect in a December 2021 attack and rape at a Capitol Hill apartment residence after an evaluator found the man mentally incompetent and unfit for trial.

The survivor in the assault says the legal defense for her attacker has agreed to extend mental health treatment for the suspect for two weeks, telling CHS the move buys time but not peace of mind the man won’t end up back on the street.

“I know the system is terrible for rape survivors, and I thought that my case was clear enough that it could overcome that,” she said.

CHS does not identify survivors of sexual assault.

Qyreek Singletary, 21 at the time of the attack, was arrested and charged in the December 2021 rape.

Court records show Singletary told police he was living homeless after coming to Seattle from North Carolina and said he was looking for an apartment the morning when he encountered the victim.

Police say he admitted to entering the apartment building near Volunteer Park as the victim was retrieving a package and claimed he wanted to have sex with her but was not there to assault the woman. Police say they found a condom, lubrication, and “black bondage tape” in the suspect’s possessions.

Early this year, Singletary’s legal defense filed for a mental evaluation with the court agreeing with the forensic evaluator’s findings that the defendant was incompetent to stand trial. In June, prosecutors say Singletary was admitted to Western State Hospital “for up to 90 days of inpatient competency restoration.”

Now, the prosecutor’s office is trying to gather new evidence after health officials have said Singletary is unlikely to be unable to be restored to a level of competency required to be tried.

“Multiple Senior Deputy Prosecutors are working on this case,” the office said in a statement sent to CHS and other media. “King County Prosecutors are gathering additional evidence to examine whether there is a basis to argue against the State Department of Social and Health Services evaluator’s conclusion.”

If the prosecution can’t continue and the charges are dropped, Singletary could face “civil commitment” treatment, possibly keeping him in custody or under supervision.

The King County Prosecutor’s office says it has asked the rape survivor to “write a statement that can be shared with the court” and says, ultimately, the decision on what is next for Singletary will be in a judge’s hands.

“We believe that she has a right to be heard by the judge who has the final decision in the case,” a spokesperson writes.

The attack’s survivor, meanwhile, must now watch and hope for the state’s legal system and its struggling mental health system to sort out a solution and let her move forward from “constantly reliving the worst thing” in her life.

The case is currently scheduled to come back before a judge later this month.

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