An Uber Eats driver texted his wife that he was making one final delivery before heading home – but he never showed up. Pasco County detectives said the 30-year-old man responsible for murdering the victim and dismemberment him, was out on parole for charges in Indiana and moved to Florida earlier this year. Detectives said it doesn’t appear the suspect and victim knew each other. The sheriff described the case as “gruesome” and a “crime of passion.” While the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said they will not publicly name the victim, his family has identified him as Randall Cooke. The Associated Press has the story:
Uber Eats driver slain, dismembered at delivery
Newslooks- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)
A Florida man is charged with murder and other offenses in the slaying and dismemberment of an Uber Eats driver who had brought food to the assailant’s house, authorities said Tuesday.
Oscar Solis Jr., 30, is charged with killing the driver during a delivery Wednesday at a home in Holiday, Florida, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference. The remains were found at the house in trash bags and a cooler, which also contained a receipt with Solis’ name on it, according to a police affidavit.
“This was a horrific crime of passion,” Nocco told reporters. “This was demonic. What he did was demonic.”
Solis faces charges of murder while engaged in a robbery, failure to register as a convicted felon and for a parole violation, jail records show. Solis was released from an Indiana prison in January after serving four years for an assault and burglary conviction, Nocco said. He moved to the Florida home about three months ago.
The case comes amid several recent random shootings of people around the U.S. who approached strangers’ homes, including a couple in Davie, Florida, whose car was fired at when they were making an Instacart delivery but turned into the wrong driveway. They were not injured.
Jail records did not list an attorney who could speak on Solis’ behalf. A jail mugshot shows Solis’ face is covered with tattoos, and Nocco said he was affiliated in Indiana with the violent MS-13 gang.
In Florida, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound Solis worked security at a strip club, according to the affidavit.
Evidence collected in the case includes blood found in various places around the house and a key fob belonging to the victim that was found on Solis’ dresser, on top of his wallet. The affidavit also says the victim’s car was found abandoned a short distance away, and inside were a trash bag containing blood-soaked rags and towels, a Door Dash bag like one the victim carried and an employment time card with Solis’ name on it.
Investigators also obtained surveillance video from the house showing the victim making the food delivery and, later, two Hispanic men carrying heavy trash bags outside. The other man, who worked as a driver for Solis, has not been charged.
The victim had been reported missing by his wife after he never came home from his Uber Eats deliveries. Uber told investigators the victim’s last reported location was at the Solis home.
Pasco County is just north of Tampa, Florida, on the Gulf coast.
