A man who carried out a shooting spree in Kalamazoo three years ago is headed to prison for life.
48-year-old Jason Dalton killed six people and seriously injured two others while driving around the Kalamazoo area in February 2016.
Four women, a man and a 17-year-old boy were killed. Two others were injured. Dalton pleaded guilty to multiple counts of premeditated murder last month.
Today in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court, Judge Alexander Lipsey sentenced Dalton to mandatory life in prison without parole for each of the murder counts. Family members of the victims spoke in court this morning, remembering their loved ones for about an hour before the sentence was handed down. Laurie Smith’s husband Richard and 17-year-old son Tyler were killed in the shooting.
"Every day I wake up to the reality that two people that I loved more than life itself are gone and I have to wipe my tears alone," Smith said.
Tiana Carruthers, who survived the shooting told Dalton that she has tried to hate him but cannot.
After Dalton's arrest, police quoted him as saying a "devil figure" on Uber's app was controlling him on the day of the shootings.
