Former Uber driver Jason Dalton pleaded guilty Monday to killing six people during a 2016 shooting spree in Kalamazoo.
Prosecutors said they would agree to the plea if Dalton took responsibility for his actions and pleaded guilty to all counts against him. The move came during jury selection.
Attorney Eusebio Solis said that against his advice, Dalton decided to plead guilty to spare his family and the families of the victims the grief of reliving what occurred.
“I’ve wanted to do this for quite a while,” Dalton told the court when asked if he understood what he was pleading to and whether he was doing so voluntarily, according to WWMT-TV.
Dalton pleaded guilty to six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight felony firearm charges, WWMT reported.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 5. A statement from the Kalamazoo County prosecuting attorney said Dalton faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Dalton also was accused of injuring two people during the shootings.
During a news conference on Monday, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said he and his team were happy to reach this resolution in the case, but he doesn’t know if the community will ever get an answer as to why Dalton carried out the shootings.
“I don’t know whether there will ever be a satisfactory answer as to why he did it … the ‘why’ question is one that haunts us,” Getting said.
He also said had the case gone to trial, the prosecution had more than 30 witnesses and more than 100 pieces of evidence ready.
At a May 2016 preliminary hearing, Tiana Carruthers described the moments before she was shot as she escorted her daughter and four other children to a park in her apartment complex.
