A Michigan man and former Uber driver who pleaded guilty to killing six people and injuring two in a February 2016 shooting spree was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday, WXYZ reported.
Jason Dalton, 48, pleaded guilty Jan. 7 to six counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and several felony firearms charges. Dalton shot eight people in three different locations in the Kalamazoo area on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, 2016, in between picking up riders while operating as an Uber driver, WDIV reported.
Dalton shot Tiana Carruthers, 25, just before 6 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2016, MLive reported. Four hours later, Dalton shot and killed Rich Smith, 53, and his 17-year-old son, Tyler Smith. He later shot and killed Mary Lou Nye, 62; Mary Jo Nye, 60, Dorothy "Judy" Brown, 74; and Barbara Hawthorne, 68. He also critically wounded Abigail Kopf, 14, the website reported.
At his sentencing hearing, Dalton was confronted by several family members of the victims. Carruthers also addressed Dalton and demanded he look at her, but he refused, WDIV reported.
"You tried to kill us all. You failed. I'm standing right in front of you," Carruthers said in court. "I'm still standing here … how does that make you feel … look at me."
Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting addressed Dalton in court before his sentence was read, estimating that the prison term would be 10,000 days, MLive reported.
“Ten thousand days in a Michigan prison where I hope that every morning you wake up seeing the faces of those you killed and injured,” Getting said in court to Dalton. “When you lay down at night I hope the last thought is the damage you’ve done to this community, to those families, to your own. Ten thousand days doesn’t come close to what you deserve. I wish somehow it could be more because you deserve more.”
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