Kalamazoo shooting suspect found competent to stand trial
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Uber driver who is accused of going on a random shooting rampage that killed six and wounded two in February in Michigan was found competent to stand trial Friday.
In a four-minute hearing in Kalamazoo County District Court, Judge Tiffany A. Ankley set a May 20 preliminary examination of the charges against Jason Dalton after Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting and court-appointed defense attorney Eusebio Solis agreed to not contest a report on the findings of the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline, Mich. The report said Dalton was able to understand the charges against him and to assist in his defense.
Dalton, 45, is charged with six counts of open murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder and weapons violations in the shootings which included the death of three Battle Creek women — Mary Jo Nye, 60, Barbara Hawthorne, 68, and Judy Brown, 74 — and the wounding of Abigail Kopf, 14, also of Battle Creek. Mary Lou Nye, of Baroda, Mich., Richard Smith and his son Tyler, both of Mattawan, also were killed and Tiana Carruthers of Richland Township, Mich., was injured.
The preliminary hearing, held to determine whether there is probable cause to believe both that the crimes listed in the charges occurred and that the defendant committed them, will be held before District Judge Christopher T. Haenicke.
Dalton, who appeared in court in an orange jail jumpsuit and shackles, did not speak.
Solis had moved to block the prosecution from using statements made by Dalton during interrogation after his arrest early Feb. 21 in court proceedings, but withdrew his motion after Getting said he would not use the statements at the preliminary examination. A hearing could be held later to determine whether the statements are admissible as evidence.
In those statements, Dalton blamed the killings on the Uber ride service app, saying his iPhone directed him where to go and when to shoot people. Dalton said he would have shot at police when he was arrested but the app directed him not to engage in a shootout.
He described to police seeing a symbol on the Uber app screen that resembled a devil's head, which he described as a horned cow head, that took over his body.
At a news conference after the hearing, Getting said there would be no plea bargain offered in this case.
"Mr. Dalton can plead guilty any time he wants," Getting said.
Follow Trace Christenson on Twitter: @TSChristenson
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