KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) – Hours after Kalamazoo shooting suspect Jason Dalton was dragged out of a courtroom, a judge ruled there’s enough evidence to send his case to trial.
Dalton faces 16 criminal counts in connection to the Feb. 20 shooting that killed Mary Jo Nye, Mary Lou Nye, Judy Brown, Barbara Hawthorne and father and son Rich and Tyler Smith.
After he was arrested, Dalton allegedly told detectives that he felt the Uber app on his phone had robbed him of sleep, manifested a “devil” that took over his body, and sounded to indicate who he should kill or not kill.
DRAGGED OUT OF COURT
Dalton watched most of the proceedings via video feed from the Kalamazoo County Jail after he was pulled from the courtroom following an outburst during testimony by Tiana Carruthers. Carruthers began sobbing on the witness stand at the sound of Dalton’s voice and screamed when he made a sudden move.
Carruthers was the first to testify. In a video posted to her private Facebook page, Carruthers said this was her first encounter with Dalton since the Feb. 20 shootings.
With the help of a cane, she walked into the courtroom Friday morning.
Carruthers told the judge she was with her child and four other children walking to the park outside her home at Meadows Townhomes when a man in a silver SUV cut them off, almost hitting them. The 25-year-old mother said the encounter seemed unusual from the start.
“I seen him coming and um, I um saw a gun,” Carruthers said in a shaky voice before Dalton interrupted her.
“They had to get their cars. No! They gave bags. These old people. They have these old black bags. They’re called (inaudible). They’re black bags that people drive around and look at. It gets real bad when people look and that’s when they tell people it’s time to get to temple,” Dalton said.
“Mr. Dalton, you need to listen to your attorney,” the judge ordered.
“Yeah you need to get to temple because you need to get going. Because it’s called a (inaudible) bag,” Dalton continued.
“You need to be quiet in today’s proceedings, OK?” advised the judge.
“Yeah,” Dalton said.
“If you have anything to say, you whisper to your attorney. That’s today’s rules, OK?” added the judge.
Dalton nodded his head.
Moments later, he was dragged out of court and the judge called a recess. Carruthers began to weep loudly.
After the Friday’s court proceedings concluded, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting wouldn’t comment on whether Dalton’s outburst was genuine or part of an act, but said he doesn’t think Dalton’s defense attorney – Eusebio Solis, a former high-ranking prosecutor in Calhoun County – had anything to do with it.
“I’ve known Mr. Solis for a long time. I certainly would not put this at his doorstep,” he said. “I don’t know what Mr. Dalton was thinking or doing.”
After Dalton’s outburst, the father of the youngest shooting victim – 14-year-old Abbie Kopf, who survived a gunshot wound to the head – released the following statement:
“It’s clear that he (Dalton) is insane. Not only did his actions show this, but his demeanor during the proceedings make it crystal clear. I pity him.“We don’t care about him as long as he is locked up for the rest of his life. We continue to offer our deepest sympathies to his … family,” Gene Kopf said.
‘I CAN NEVER FORGET HIS FACE’
Carruthers returned to the courtroom shortly after noon Friday in a wheelchair to continue her testimony.
Carruthers said after Dalton asked if she was someone by another name, she continued to walk with the children to the playground. She said as the group reached the playground, she saw the silver SUV turn around and start heading toward her, with a gun hanging out the driver’s side window.
“I just reacted you know fast and I just told the kids to run. I didn’t care what they heard or what they saw… to run and don’t come back, no matter what. And then I started screaming to the other children that were playing at the playground to run. And then at that time I began to run,” Carruthers said.
Carruthers said only Dalton and a large dog were in the vehicle.
Carruthers said she didn’t even make it to the sidewalk before a bullet hit her in the left arm and a second bullet hit her right leg. Carruthers said she was shot four times. “I just remember, just remember just shooting and shooting and I just remember I tried to move but I, but I couldn’t move. I tried to get under the car but after I realized he wasn’t going to stop shooting, I just pretended like I was dead already. And after he pulled off, I just, after he pulled off and I realized he was gone, I started screaming for the kids. But I laid there, just screaming for the kids,” Carruthers said between sobs.
Carruthers said she wouldn’t respond to neighbors that she was OK until she knew that the kids were OK.
Carruthers said both her femurs were broken and her arm had to be reconstructed. She said a bullet that went through her buttock is still in her liver.
“I look like the bionic woman… it doesn’t even look real, my body doesn’t look real. Metal in four different, three different places of my body and screws and bolts,” Carruthers said with a sob. “And I hurt every single day. Every single day I hurt. Every single day. Every single day,” she added before grabbing tissues.
When the vehicle pulled up to her, Carruthers said the gunman was about two feet away.
“Yes, I remember him. I remember everything about him. I could never forget, I could never forget, I could never forget his face,” she said, sobbing. “I see his face every time I go to sleep. I see his face all the time,” Carruthers added before identifying Dalton, who was being held down in his chair by gloved corrections officers.
Dalton’s defense lawyer questioned how well Carruthers could identify Dalton and the process investigators took in presenting photos of potential suspects to her.
The 25-year-old mother was then helped into wheelchair and led out of court.
HIDING FROM A KILLER
The girlfriend of Tyler Smith also revealed the moments leading up to the death of the teenager and his father, Richard.
Alexis Cornish testified Friday that she was in the back seat of Tyler’s Range Rover when a dark vehicle pulled into Seelye Motors on Stadium Drive the night of Feb. 20. She said the Range Rover was running with its lights on when a man wearing all black approached the father and son from behind.
She said the man asked the Smiths what they were looking at. They turned around and began describing the blue pickup truck in front of them.
“That’s all the words they got out at that time… because he pulled out the gun and started shooting,” she said.
“They put their hands up and said ‘What are you doing?’ And they fell down. And that’s when I ducked behind the seat so he couldn’t look at me,” she explained.
“Do you have any idea how many shots that person fired?” the prosecutor asked.
“Enough not to miss,” the 17-year-old girl said.
Loved ones of Rich and Tyler Smith wore “Smith strong” shirts as they listened to the testimony. Many wiped away tears during the proceeding.
Cornish said the gunman walked over to look at a black vehicle before turning around and walking past her in the vehicle. She said she then sat up to see if he was still there before walking over to Tyler and taking the phone out of his pocket to call 911.
Tod Neldon of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Crime Lab testified he recovered 16 bullet casings from the dealership near both bodies.
CAR AT CRACKER BARREL ‘WAS SHOT EVERYWHERE’
One of the first people to discover the deadly shooting scene outside the Texas Township Cracker Barrel also took the stand Friday.
Richard Solomon II said he and his son were driving into the restaurant to drop off his wife’s car when a dark blue Chevrolet HHR narrowly missed his vehicle as it sped out of the parking lot.
“He looked at me and turned his head real quick,” Solomon said.
“The little red car was shot everywhere,” said Solomon.
The Portage man said his wife was outside the restaurant investigating noises she heard when he arrived. They spotted a van and a car; one was still running, Solomon testified.
“I looked over at the car and the back window did not look right. Back passenger window did not look right. So I went over to see what had happened and when I got there, the lady in the back’s head was leaning on the door and you could actually see her hair coming through the hole in the window. And that’s when I called for her to call 911,” said Solomon.
“The little red car was shot everywhere,” Solomon added.
He said at first check, he found no movement in either vehicle. At second check of the car, he said he saw a back seat passenger on the driver’s side move a little.
He said the vehicle didn’t have his headlights on but he saw the driver with his own headlights. Solomon later identified the driver as Dalton. The defense questioned Solomon on why he didn’t call police to identify Dalton. He said it was the first time he has been asked to.
Officer Scott Brooks, who administered first aid to survivor Abbie Kopf before medics arrived at the Cracker Barrel, also took the stand.
“She was slouched in the floorboard of the passenger as though she was hiding,” he said of the 14-year-old. “We tried to stop the bleeding, at which point we tried to wrap her head and protect any other foreign debris from getting inside her wound.”
In April, Dalton was found competent to stand trial. Although the judge ruled Dalton fit to stand trial, defense lawyers can still enter a not guilty by reason of insanity plea for Dalton.What others are clicking on: