A passenger allegedly confessed to filming himself randomly stabbing an Uber driver to death before posting the sickening footage to Facebook, police say.
Brandon Jacobs, 29, is charged with second-degree murder for the brutal slaying of Yolanda Dillion, 54, a 10-year New Orleans Police Department employee who drove an Uber to supplement her income.
Mr Jacobs allegedly told police that he selected the victim at random after he woke up and “decided he was going to kill someone”, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto told reporters on Friday.
Ms Dillion picked up the suspect in central New Orleans just before 3pm on 8 December and drove him to a Travelodge on the Westbank Expressway in the suburb of Harvey on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
As they arrived at the motel, Mr Jacobs allegedly stabbed the driver multiple times from the back seat.
He then returned to his motel room and posted the horrifying footage to his Facebook account, Sheriff Lopinto told reporters. It has since been taken down.
Emergency responders rushed Ms Dillion to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Deputies arrested the suspect a short time later.
Mr Jacobs allegedly told investigators that he originally planned to kill an Uber driver who picked him up at the Travellodge, Sheriff Lopinto told reporters.
He backed out of the plan when he realised he would need a ride back to the motel, and hailed Ms Dillion’s car through the ride-sharing app, WVUE reported.
“We asked him specifically, ‘how did you pick her?’” Sheriff Lopinto said. “His response was ‘I didn’t pick her, Uber picked her’.”
Ms Dillion was a much-loved employee at the New Orleans Police Department where she worked as a budget analyst, Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said at Friday’s press conference.
He described her as a “quiet giant” who “meant a lot to this department and it tore our employees up.”
Ms Dillion was a volunteer at St. Paul the Apostle Church and cared for her elderly mother, relatives told WVUE.
“You can’t wrap your head around why when there’s no reason why,” her cousin Stephanie Mills told the news outlet.
In a post on Twitter, acclaimed New Orleans-born actor Wendell Pierce paid tribute to Ms Dillion, who attended the same church.
“My church member for decades, a woman with a heart of gold & a deep love of God was murdered yesterday,” he tweeted. “The murderous violence of New Orleans and this country has come even closer to me personally. We are in crisis.”
Sheriff Lopinto said the suspect was coherent after his arrest, but appeared to be suffering from mental health problems.
