Prosecutor wants death penalty for MS-13 gang member accused of decapitating Uber Eats driver
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Featured Image Credit: Pasco County Sheriffâs Office/Randall Cooke/Facebook
Florida Prosecutors want the death penalty for the 'demonic' MS-13 gang member accused of stabbing an Uber Eats driver to death 35 times and cutting up his body.
State Attorney Bruce Bartlett filed a 'notice to seek the death penalty' against MS-13 gang member Oscar Adrian Solis Jr. on Friday.
Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13 - an international criminal gang with roots in El Salvador - originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Solis Jr. was indicted for first-degree murder and abuse of a dead human body, according to court records obtained by the New York Post.
Solis Jr. allegedly murdered 59-year-old Uber driver Randall Cooke on 19 April.
Cooke was making a delivery at a home in Pasco County and prosecutors say that it was his first day working for Uber Eats.
Surveillance video from the home reportedly showed two men, including the suspect, taking trash bags around the side of the house.
Solis Jr. was said to be dumping multiple trash bags with body parts.
When officials searched the property, they found human remains, including a foot wearing a black sock, inside the trash bags.
Cooke’s car had been moved from the house to a nearby location.
State Attorney Bartlett filed a 'notice to seek the death penalty' if the suspect is convicted.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Bartlett told the Tampa Bay Times.
“I cannot focus on how an individual can be so vile.
“I cannot for the life of me believe he was so nonchalant in what he did.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said: “This was a horrific crime of passion.
“You always say the word evil, but this is demonic.”
“All it appears is that there was a gentleman who was working, was doing his last delivery of the night,” Nocco added.
“And this person killed him for no reason and took him away from his family.”
The suspect is being held in jail without bond, court records say.
An arraignment has been scheduled for June 6.
UNILAD has contacted Uber Eats and Pasco County for comment.
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested 37 gang members said to be responsible for murders in Massachusetts.
In the affidavit filed in that case, the FBI said, 'Mata, viola, controla' - translated 'kill, rape, control' is the gang’s motto.
