An Uber Eats driving making his last delivery of the day was allegedly killed and dismembered by a paroled gang member police described as “demonic.”
“This is just a gruesome case. This is horrible,” Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a Tuesday news conference announcing the arrest of Oscar Solis, 30, on murder charges.
“This person just yanked him in and killed him.”
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Police said the remains of the victim—who was identified by family as Randall Cooke—were found on trash bags around the suspect’s home in Holiday, Florida.
The slaying happened on April 19. Cooke, 59, dropped off his wife at home and went out to make deliveries. He was texting back and forth with her throughout his shift, and at 6:43 p.m. said he was making his last stop and would be home soon.
He never arrived, and his wife eventually called police, who sent patrol officers to look for him with no luck. The case was then transferred to the missing-persons unit, which contacted Uber Eats and got coordinates of his last stop.
On April 20, detectives went to the house in question and walked around it. No one answered the door so they left. When they returned the next day, Solis’ roommate was home, and he gave police access to security video.
The footage showed Cooke approaching the house, and then the feed cut out. But the video also showed Solis carrying trash bags out to the side of the house the next day, police said.
Detectives searched the bags and found the driver’s body parts.
“That was her soulmate,” Cooke’s stepdaughter Brittany Dzoba told the Tampa Bay Times, referring to her mother. “I looked at him as more of a father than my own father.”
Solis was initially picked up and held on a charge of failing to register as a felon. The sheriff said he is an MS-13 gang member with a long rap sheet full of violent crimes, including allegations he stabbed someone while serving time in Indiana.
“He’s a very violent individual,” the sheriff said, adding that charges were upgraded to murder and robbery on Monday.
Solis had recently moved to Florida, where his father lives. His father had lived in the house where the driver was killed, but moved out to make room for his son.
It does not appear he knew the victim.
“I kept asking what’s the connection? This was absolutely a horrific crime of passion. This is demonic. What he did was demonic,” Nocco said. “But at the same time, we couldn’t answer the question: ‘Why?’ All that appears is there was a gentleman who was working, he was doing his last delivery for the night, and this person killed him.”
Cooke’s wallet and wedding ring were found in Solis’ home. His car was found several blocks away.
Police are looking for two young people who were seen leaving the home about an hour before the homicide. Solis was a gamer, and they may have been there to play games with him.
