Uber driver stabbed to death after picking up man who ‘wanted to kill someone’

HARVEY – Law enforcement officials say a New Orleans Police Department employee who worked a side job as an Uber driver was stabbed to death at random after she picked up a man who was looking to kill someone.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested Brandon Jacobs, 29, within hours of the murder Thursday afternoon. 

Investigators said Jacobs requested a ride in New Orleans through Uber before 3 p.m. Thursday. He then had the victim, 54-year-old Yolanda Dillion, drive him to a hotel — where he was reportedly living out of a room — on the Westbank Expressway in Harvey. 

Once they arrived at their destination, Jacobs allegedly stabbed Dillion repeatedly and then got out of the car. Deputies said Jacobs was still at the hotel when they arrived, and he was taken into custody. 

Dillion was rushed to a hospital but later died from her wounds. 

The sheriff’s office said Jacobs admitted to the killing, saying he chose the victim at random and that he “wanted to kill someone.” He reportedly filmed the aftermath of the stabbing and posted it to social media, but that video has since been removed.

WWL-TV cites the sheriff’s office saying that Jacobs lived at the hotel and that he had contemplated killing the first Uber he encountered that day, but he changed his mind after realizing he would need a ride back. 

“I didn’t pick her,” Sheriff Joe Lopinto said Jacobs told investigators. “Uber picked her.” 

Dillion was a 10-year employee at NOPD, working there as a fiscal budget analyst. 

Jacobs was booked into the Jefferson Parish jail on a charge of second-degree murder.