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Kalamazoo Shooter Jason Dalton Sentenced To Life In Prison

A woman in a pinstripe jacket stands at a podium. The prosecuting attorney stands to the right with a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
MLIVE

A man who carried out a shooting spree in Kalamazoo three years ago is headed to prison for life. Jason Brian Dalton killed six people and seriously injured two others while driving around the Kalamazoo area on February 20, 2016. 

Dalton pleaded guilty to multiple counts of premeditated murder last month. On Tuesday in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court, Judge Alexander Lipsey sentenced Dalton to mandatory life in prison without parole for each of the murders.

Family members of the victims spoke during the sentencing hearing, 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. She said

"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's daughter, Emily Lemmer, said her father was the kind of person who "would give you the shirt off his back."

"He had a laugh that was contagious, and he could make you laugh even if you didn't want to. My dad was caring, loving and always tried to help people," she told the court.

Her brother, she said, "tried to be a friend to everyone that he met." 

"He loved cars and ultimately everything that was fast and cool. He loved to dance and to sing to just about anything. Tyler was also younger than me, and every time I think  about all the things he wanted to do and all the dreams he had, I am sick.

"He never got to graduate high school, he never got to turn 21, he never got to get married but mostly he never got the chance to live his whole life. He was just getting started," she said.

Laura Hawthorne remembered her aunt, Barbara Hawthorne, one of four women whom Dalton killed outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant, as a devoted educator and a civil rights activist who also had a strong sense of humor.

"Of all the people that you had to kill that night, the great irony is that she was about peace and making life fair," she said.

Hawthorne was also Cassandra Baer's aunt. Baer said that Hawthorne, who did not have children of her own, adored her nieces and nephews. "Each time I saw her, she let me know I was precious to her," she said.

"She was especially good with teens and young adults. In my early years I shared my deepest thoughts, hopes and feelings with her."

Rob and Jeff Reynolds remembered their mother, Dorothy "Judy" Brown.

"My mom's death was a blow like no other. It completely knocked the wind out of me, deflated me to the core. Nothing can prepare someone to instantly fly cross-country, unexpectedly, to secure their mom's house and make arrangements for her remains and other urgent matters," Jeff Reynolds said.

"She worked extra-hard to ensure that my brother and I were well-taken care of. She has always had my highest respect and appreciation. Throughout my adult life, my mom and I enjoyed a very nice relationship. We always stayed in touch. We shared decades of laughs and good memories," he said.

Dalton, wearing an orange jumpsuit, is sitting at a table in the courtroom. His lawyer is sitting to his right.
Credit MLIVE
Jason Brian Dalton, left, and defense attorney Eusebio Solis at Dalton's sentencing on Tuesday in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

Christopher Nye was the husband of victim Mary L. Nye and the brother of Mary Jo Nye, who also died in the shooting. "I've lost the woman I married for 41 years, and I lost my little sister. The world has lost two women whose only goal in life was to take care of children. My wife worked in a daycare center and took care of little babies, nursed them, rocked them, whatever, and my sister was a teacher. She taught children who came from shaky backgrounds. Some of them had juvenile records, some of them just came from bad family situations. She was their teacher and their mentor. The world has lost two teachers."

Tiana Carruthers, who survived the shooting but was badly hurt told Dalton that she has tried to hate him but cannot. Carruthers was walking with a group of children at an apartment complex in Richland when Dalton pointed a gun at her.

"You tried to kill us all. You failed. I'm standing here, right here, in your face, in front of you. How does it make you feel? Look at me. How does it make you feel?" she asked Dalton in court on Tuesday.

Carruthers also read from a statement from her young daughter.

"'If I had something to say to Jason Dalton, I would say, 'Do you really feel my pain? Maybe not. You really hurt my heart for all the hate you done to me. You give me nightmares and I cry and yell in my sleep and I end up late for school...well, you should be ashamed and admit you tried to kill my mom. That's my love of my life. Think before you do. Killing others is not happiness."

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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