Uber driver recorded himself stabbing driver to death, sheriff says

Brandon Jacobs, 29, has been charged with second-degree murder and is accused of killing the 10-year-old New Orleans Police Department employee, who earned extra money driving for Uber and Uber Eats. During a press conference Friday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto III repeatedly searched for words to describe a random act of violence that defied reason.

Jacobs and Dillion were complete strangers and, to the knowledge of investigators, had never crossed paths until Jacobs used his phone Thursday afternoon to hail an Uber car and Dillion accepted the ride, according to the sheriff.

“His confession basically said he woke up yesterday morning and decided he was going to kill someone and it would be daytime,” Lopinto said.

Jacobs’ attorney did not respond to a Washington Post request for comment on Sunday.

At first, Jacobs planned to greet an Uber ride at the Travelodge where he was staying, accompany the ride to New Orleans, and then kill that driver, Lopinto said Friday. Realizing this would leave him in need of being driven back to the motel, he allegedly decided to wait to kill the second driver at the end of the return trip.

“When we asked her specifically, ‘How did you choose her?’ her response was, “I didn’t pick her. Uber picked her,’ meaning she was the random person who picked it up that day,” Lopinto said.

Uber did not respond to a request for comment from The Post on Sunday evening.

Jacobs allegedly videotaped the stabbing and later posted it on Facebook. Lopinto described the images as “horrifying” and said his office worked with the social media company to have them removed.

After the stabbing, Jacobs got out of the car and “casually” walked to his motel room, leaving the knife at the scene, Lopinto said.

As law enforcement swarmed the motel to investigate, Jacobs locked himself in his room, not yet on detectives’ radar, Lopinto said. Later, after they identified him as a suspect and headed to his room, he came out to have a cigarette.

“He thought we were gone,” the sheriff said.

After arresting him, investigators discovered what the sheriff described as a “pet knife” in his room.

New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Shaun Ferguson described Dillion as quiet and humble – “a little giant” who was loved in the tax budget department where she worked as an analyst. She had cared for her sick mother for several years.

“Truly a lovely person,” Ferguson said, adding that the news of his violent death “tore our employees apart this morning.”

“It definitely blindsided everyone,” he said.

Those mourning Dillion’s death included one of New Orleans’ most famous sons – actor Wendell Pierce, who is best known for playing jaded Baltimore homicide detective Bunk Moreland on “The Wire.” pierce caught on Twitter Friday to urge people to “remember” Dillion, describing her as “my church member for decades, a woman with a heart of gold and a deep love for God.”

Dillion’s mother, Edna, told nola.com that her daughter was a New Orleans-born and raised only child who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Xavier University and a master’s degree in the same subject. from Tulane University.

Dillion was a regular at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, a reader who read scriptures at Mass, nola.com reported. Although she had no children of her own, she adored those at St. Paul; As Christmas approached, she had collected dozens of red and green bags and planned to fill them with treats and then distribute them.

“She was fun loving,” a cousin, Marlene Riley, told the news agency. “She was still a big kid herself.”