Jason Dalton, dubbed the “Uber Killer” by the media, will be facing trial for shooting eight people in February of this year. Six of the victims died, while two others were wounded in the shooting. He is charged with six felony counts of open murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, and eight felony weapons charges. Under Michigan law, all of these charges are felonies punishable by very significant prison time.
A Bizarre Hearing
At his recent preliminary hearing in the Kalamazoo County District Court, Dalton is said to have had several bizarre outbursts during the testimony of one of his surviving victims. “Aviator cars. No! They gave bags, black bags they are called … that people drive around and they look … and that’s when you tell people you need to get to temple. Yeah, you need to get to temple, you need to get going because it’s called intimidator bags.” he said, appearing incoherent. Dalton earlier told investigators that a “devil face” appeared on the screen of his phone when he opened the Uber app, and told him what to do.
After several of these outbursts, Tiana Carruthers, one of two survivors who was in the middle of giving her testimony, began to cry. Dalton said something about “old people with these old black bags.” when Judge Christopher Haenicke cut him off. However, Dalton went on, stating that it was time to “get to temple”, at which point the judge called a recess and demanded that Dalton be removed from the courtroom.
Dalton, who was determined last month to be competent to stand trial after undergoing a mental competency exam, was restrained and dragged from the courtroom by deputies. He then continued the rest of the hearing via video from the jail. During the remainder of the hearing, Dalton is shown talking to himself and being physically restrained by jail guards.
In addition to Carruthers, who was shot four times while protecting a group of children from Dalton, witness testimony was also provided by Jeff Crump. Crump is a Michigan State Police firearms expert who linked bullet casings found at the scenes of the shootings to guns that are owned by Dalton. 17-year-old Alexis Cornish, who witnessed her boyfriend and his father shot to death outside a car dealership, also identified Dalton as the shooter and told the court what she had seen. Dalton was a driver for Uber, a ride sharing app, at the time of the shootings.
Judge Haenicke determined, after listening to witness testimony, that there was sufficient evidence to send Dalton to trial, and bound him over to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court. At this time, there is no information regarding when Dalton’s trial is scheduled for, or which Judge will be presiding.