A man affiliated with the MS-13 gang was accused of murdering an Uber Eats driver who was delivering to his house in Holiday.
In a news conference Tuesday, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the driver was reported missing on April 19 after he abruptly stopped answering his wife’s texts.
“He was a guy like everybody else, just trying to make a living for his family,” Nocco said.
The driver, 59-year-old Randall Cooke, was last heard from at around 6:30 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office. He told his wife he had one last delivery to make before heading home, but he vanished.
Uber Eats provided detectives with Cooke’s last known location, a house in the 3400 block of Moog Road. The sheriff’s office said one of the occupants of the home was Oscar Adrian Solis, 30, a convicted felon with ties to the MS-13 gang.
Deputies obtained home security footage from Solis’ roommate, which showed Cooke walking up to the home. The motion-detecting camera abruptly went dark just moments later, at 6:45 p.m., according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
The next morning, Solis was reportedly caught on camera walking around the house with another man, both carrying trash bags. An arrest affidavit states one of the men appeared to be dragging a heavy bag across the ground as he walked.
Nocco said “several” bags were found to contain the remains of the missing delivery driver.
Solis was arrested for failing to register as a felon in Florida and for a parole violation, according to jail records. Nocco said Solis was a “very violent individual” who moved to Florida earlier this year after getting out on parole in Indiana after a four year sentence for assault and burglary.
An arrest affidavit indicates Solis’ roommate heard “loud noises” coming from his room at approximately 2 a.m. Solis was later seen with small cuts on his hands and arms, according to detectives.
In the days that followed, detectives scoured the neighborhood for evidence to build their case against Solis. Blood was found in several areas of the home,according to the arrest report. Cooke’s car was later found abandoned about 0.3 miles away from the home with “blood-soaked rags and paper towels, along with a red DoorDash bag similar to the one [the driver] was observed carrying.”
Investigators determined that while delivering an order for Solis’ father, Solis pulled the delivery driver inside and allegedly murdered him. He was charged with murder while committing a robbery after the driver’s wedding ring and car keys were allegedly found in Solis’ possession.
The arrest report stated that an unidentified person told detectives Solis asked them to throw the garbage bags in a construction dumpster in Pinellas County, according to the arrest report, but they declined to do so.
Nocco said detectives are working to determine a motive for the alleged murder.
“This is demonic,” Nocco said. “What he did was demonic, but at the same time, we couldn’t answer the question ‘Why?’”
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a man and woman who reportedly left Solis’ home shortly before the alleged murder and may have information that can help the investigation. Anyone with information about these individuals are asked to call the Pasco Sheriff’s Crime Tips Line at 1-800-706-2488.
Nocco said Solis’ roommate and father are not facing charges at this time.