
 
 
 
 KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The man charged with shooting eight people in the Kalamazoo area, killing six of them is competent to stand trial. 
 
 Jason Dalton entered the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit and chains around 11:24 a.m. Friday. It was the first time he’s walked into a courtroom since the Feb. 20 shootings. Dalton’s hair was noticeably more gray since his arraignment two months earlier. 
 
 Judge Tiffany Ankley accepted the recommendation from Jason Dalton’s psychological exam during Friday’s hearing, which lasted about six minutes. Although the judge ruled Dalton fit to stand trial, defense lawyers can still enter a not guilty by reason of insanity plea for Dalton. 
 
 >>Scroll down to watch Jason Dalton’s hearing; app users click here. 
 
 A TEARFUL ENCOUNTER 
 
 Dalton faces 16 criminal counts in connection to the Feb. 20 shooting that Mary Jo Nye, Mary Lou Nye, Judy Brown, Barbara Hawthorne and father and son Rich and Tyler Smith. 
 
 Widow Laurie Smith and other relatives of the Smith family filled the courtroom for Friday’s hearing. The family broke down crying after Dalton left the court. 
 
 Dalton is also charged with shooting 14-year-old Abbie Kopf and 25-year-old Tiana Carruthers multiple times. Both are still recovering. 
 
 In a news conference shortly after the hearing, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said he will not be offering a plea deal in the case. 
 
 >>Scroll down to watch Jason Dalton’s hearing; app users click here. Note: audio issues occurred during recording. 
 
 INSIDE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION 
 
 According to the psychological evaluation released to 24 Hour News 8 Friday, Dalton said during the shootings, “It almost seemed like my phone could control me.” The statement is consistent with previous reports that Dalton told police he started shooting after a “devil” in his Uber app took over his body. 
 
 The report states Dalton also said he thought he was hearing voices and could hear people’s thoughts when driving for Uber. He said he was no longer experiencing both phenomena. 
 
 “I guess that’s the heavy part. I believed at the time I was experiencing something. I’m not sure what that is. in the cell, it’s heavy thinking about if I was imagining those things or if they were real,” Dalton stated during the exam. 
 
 >>Inside woodtv.com: Complete coverage of the Kalamazoo shooting rampage | How you can help 
 
 According to the psychological evaluation report, Dalton was not sure about why police arrested him. However, the report stated Dalton knew the penalties and charges he was facing. 
 
 SURVIVORS RESPOND 
 
 A spokesperson for Carruthers said the 25-year-old shooting survivor respectfully declined to comment on the charges Dalton faces, but “is confident that the legal system will work to see that justice is served.” 
 
 Thursday, the parents of Abbie told 24 Hour News 8 they agree with the psychological evaluation’s findings. 
 
 “I would like him to spend the rest of his life thinking about every one of the people that he put a bullet in,” said Vickie Kopf. “And who he killed and how he turned their lives and their families’ lives completely upside down.” 
 
 “What type of cage he eventually he’s determined to be in, as locked up for the rest of his life, I don’t care,” said Abbie’s father, Gene Kopf. 
 
 Dalton’s next court hearing, a preliminary exam, is scheduled for May 20. 
 
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 ||||| Jason Dalton (Photo: Associated Press) 
 
 Kalamazoo — A Kalamazoo County judge ruled Friday that an Uber driver charged with killing six people is mentally fit to stand trial. 
 
 The ruling clears the way for Jason Dalton to be tried in a shooting spree in February that also injured two people. 
 
 District Judge Tiffany Ankley made the ruling after receiving the results of a psychological exam from the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ann Arbor. She said Dalton was mentally competent because he understands the charges and possible punishment against him and he is able to help his attorney in his defense. 
 
 The findings of the mental competency exam pertain only to Dalton’s current state of mind, not to what he was thinking during the alleged shooting. It doesn’t preclude him from eventually mounting an insanity defense. 
 
 “The (competency exam) process isn’t to determine whether he’s guilty or not guilty,” Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said after the hearing. 
 
 Ankley scheduled a preliminary hearing for 9 a.m. May 20. 
 
 Dalton, shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, attended the hearing but didn’t say anything. 
 
 Laurie Smith, whose husband and son were killed in the shooting, sat in the courtroom’s front row. Smith, who declined comment, wore a blue T-shirt memorializing the two victims, listing the dates of their births and deaths, and saying “In Loving Memory.” 
 
 Dalton’s attorney, Eusebio Solis, made a motion to prevent the prosecution from using Dalton’s statements to police after he was arrested. But he withdrew the motion after Getting said he didn’t plan to use the statements in the preliminary hearing. 
 
 Solis reserved the right to raise the issue again if a trial is held. 
 
 Ankley was upset that the results of competency exam were released before the court hearing. Lt. Chuck Christensen told a reporter the results several days before the hearing. 
 
 Ankley said the information should have remained private until released by the court. 
 
 “Competency is a determination by the court and the court alone,” she said. 
 
 Ankley had ordered the competency exam at the behest of Solis after Solis told the judge Dalton didn’t seem to understand the case against him. 
 
 Dalton had told investigators the shootings were caused by a Uber app on his cellphone. He said the app turned into a devil’s head and controlled his actions during the rampage. 
 
 Dalton, who is being held without bond in the Kalamazoo County Jail, is facing 16 charges, including six murder counts. 
 
 He is accused of shooting eight people, including the six who were killed, in three incidents over a five-hour period Feb. 20. 
 
 Between the three shooting incidents, Dalton drove Uber passengers around town, said police and passengers. 
 
 Killed in the attacks were Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda; Richard Smith, 53, and his son Tyler, 17, of Mattawan; and Mary Jo Nye, 60, Dorothy “Judy” Brown, 74, and Barbara Hawthorne, 68, all of Battle Creek. 
 
 The other two victims, Abigail Kopf, 14, and Tiana Carruthers, 25, are recovering from their injuries. 
 
 Carruthers’ condition at Borgess Medical Center has improved while Abigail returned home Wednesday from a Grand Rapids rehabilitation facility 
 
 FDonnelly@detroitnews.com 
 
 (313) 223-4186 
 
 Twitter: @francisXdonnell 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1Whe85w
– The former Uber driver accused of killing six people during a shooting rampage in Kalamazoo has been cleared to stand trial. A judge ruled Friday that Jason Dalton is mentally competent after she received the results of a psychological exam that found he understands the charges and can assist with his defense. As the Detroit News notes, the exam only declares him mentally fit now and does not prevent him from claiming he was temporarily insane at the time of the shooting spree in February. In a press conference after Friday's competency hearing, the county prosecutor said no plea deal will be offered to Dalton, WOOD-TV reports.