US Uber driver pleads guilty to murdering six customers between fares. / ABC
A Michigan Uber driver charged with killing six strangers after claiming the devil made him do it with the ride-sharing app has pleaded guilty to murder.
Jason Dalton faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole.
Victim family members react as Jason Dalton pleads guilty to six counts of murder and several other charges at the Kalamazoo County Courthouse. Photo / AP
"I've wanted to do this for quite a while,"Dalton told a judge.
He answered "yes" to many questions and admitted that he shot eight people at three separate locations in the Kalamazoo area - an apartment building, a restaurant and a car dealership - in 2016.
Four women, a man and a 17-year-old boy were killed.
Two victims, including 15-year-old Abbie Kopf, survived the shootings.
Sisters-in-law Mary Jo Nye, 60, (left) and Mary Lou Nye, 63, (right) were killed during the shooting spree in a Cracker Barrel parking lot. Photos / Facebook, GoFundMe
Tyler Smith (right) and his father Rich were killed in the parking lot of the Seelye Kiacar dealership while they were looking at cars. Photo / Facebook
Barbara Hawthorne (left), 68, and Dorothy Brown (right), 70, were also killed in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel. Photos / Facebook
Kopf miraculously survived the shooting after suffering a fractured skull. The teen underwent surgery to have a plastic plate inserted. Doctors were amazed with her recovery, given they were preparing to harvest her organs when she was injured.
Defence attorney Eusebio Solis said he advised Dalton not to plead guilty but he said his client wanted to spare families more grief during a trial.
Dalton told police that a "devil figure" on Uber's app was controlling him on the night of the shootings and that it had ordered him to kill.
Defendant Jason Dalton, left, who is charged with killing six people in-between picking up riders for Uber, stands with attorney Eusebio Solis. Photo / AP
Dalton had previously made bizarre outbursts in past court appearances, but was found competent to stand trial.
He was dragged out of a courtroom by deputies during a 2016 court appearance when he started screaming while one of his surviving victims was giving her testimony.
