KALAMAZOO (WWJ/AP) - The jury selection process is set to begin in the trial of a man charged with killing six strangers in Kalamazoo nearly three years ago.
Jason Dalton is accused of shooting eight people in three different locations in February 2016 while he was picking up riders for Uber. Police quoted Dalton as saying a "devil figure" on Uber's app was controlling him.
Prospective jurors report to court Thursday for the first day of the selection process. Trial testimony could start Monday.
The trial was delayed while Dalton's attorney tried to suppress some statements made to police. The Michigan appeals court agreed that some cannot be used.
Dalton has been found competent to stand trial, but he's made bizarre outbursts at past court appearances.
Dalton, who was 45 years old at the time, allegedly told authorities after his arrest that when you "plug into" the Uber app, "you can actually feel the presence on you." He said the difference between the night of the shootings and others was that an icon on the Uber app that is normally red "had changed to black."
Dalton claimed the Uber app on his phone took him over on the day of the shootings, saying that at one point he went to his home, put several guns into a bag and put them in his vehicle, according to investigators.
The first victim, Tiana Carruthers, 25, was asked if she had called Uber for a ride before she was shot multiple times outside an apartment complex. She survived the shooting.
Later, Richard Smith and his 17-year-old son, Tyler, were shot and killed while looking at vehicles at a car dealership. Dalton said he told them, "hello," before he opened fire..
Dalton then drove to a Cracker Barrel restaurant, where he told detectives that he shot 62-year-old Mary Lou Nye, a retired teacher, after asking "if she could spare a dollar to make America great again," according to a police report.
Dalton said he was going to leave after shooting Nye, but he heard other people screaming, so he turned his gun on them. In all, four people were killed inside two cars parked outside the restaurant — Nye, her 60-year-old sister Mary Jo Nue, 74-year-old Dorothy Brown and 68-year-old Barbara Hawthorne. A fifth person, 14-year-old Abigail Kopf, was wounded.
Dalton said "he came back to reality" when police arrested him early the next morning, according to the report. He's not accused of shooting any Uber customers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
