Othal Wallace in court for his sentencing hearing (YouTube:WESH screenshot) and Officer Jason Raynor (DBPD)
A 31-year-old man in Florida will spend multiple decades behind bars after being handed the maximum sentence for killing a police officer, fatally shooting the victim in the face two years ago. Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Raul A. Zambrano on Friday ordered Othal Wallace to serve a sentence of 30 years in a state correctional facility for the 2021 slaying of Daytona Beach police officer Jason Raynor, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Wallace had been charged with first-degree murder and prosecutors had announced their intention to seek the death penalty in the case, but a jury in Clay County last month found Wallace guilty on one lesser count of manslaughter. Jurors even eschewed a charge of second-degree murder, which could have resulted in Wallace being sentenced to life in prison.
Friday’s sentencing hearing
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Zambrano addressed Wallace directly, invoking the now-convicted killer’s social media posts from before he shot Raynor, according to a report from the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
“You achieved your goal of getting blood on your boots and now you are being held accountable for your actions,” Zambrano said, referring to a social media post shown to jurors in which Wallace said he would someday have “pigs’ blood on his boots.”
Zambrano continued, saying, “Words matter. Your words are very chilling. It sends a terrible message. Clearly, you hold nothing but contempt and resentment for law enforcement,” according to footage posted by Daytona Beach NBC affiliate WESH.
Seventh Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza reportedly said that the three-decade sentence was far from adequate, but emphasized that anything less than the maximum 30 years allowed under the law would have been a “travesty” and sent the message that killing police officers was acceptable.
Wallace addressed the court and spoke about Raynor’s parents, both of whom were in attendance on Friday.
“I do respect the way they feel about what’s going on,” Wallace said, per the News-Journal. “I also want to assure them I’m not a monster. I’m a citizen of this country just like they are.”
He also reportedly referred to the footage from Raynor’s bodycam shown during his trial.
“As you see, we had mere seconds to come to some understanding and unfortunately we never reached an understanding before this situation transpired,” Wallace said. “In the moment the fear that I felt is what generated the reaction. As a person, I get to embrace the constitution and what comes with that is a responsibility to protect myself.”
Raynor’s mother spoke about her “wonderful, precious son,” who she said would help her serve meals to the homeless. She also said she was “disgusted” by the manslaughter verdict, the News-Journal reported.
“This is not justice,” Raynor’s mother reportedly said.
Following the proceedings, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said that despite Raynor’s death weighing heavily on the agency, the department can “take solace in the knowledge that the perpetrator of this heinous crime has received the maximum sentence allowed by law following his manslaughter conviction.”
The fatal shooting
Raynor was patrolling the area on June 23, 2021, when he came across Wallace inside a vehicle.
“How’s it going?” Officer Raynor asked. “Do you live here?”
“What’s going on?” Wallace asked as he stepped out of his car.
Raynor incessantly asked Wallace to sit so he could talk to him.
“Come on, now,” Wallace asked. “Don’t do this. Why you asking me if I live here? What’s going on?”
Wallace appears to be the person saying “back up” and “stop” to Raynor.
A single gunshot rang out approximately 25 seconds after Raynor approached Wallace’s vehicle.
The shooting set off a manhunt and Wallace was caught in a treehouse in Georgia three days after the shooting on June 26, 2021, and was charged with first-degree murder.
A Facebook page that appeared to be connected to Wallace — and which the authorities said they had been “monitoring” — suggested that the defendant is also linked to the New Black Panther Party and the Huey P. Newton Gun Club Alabama Chapter
Raynor succumbed to his injuries on Aug. 17, 2021.
The manslaughter verdict
Prosecutors said they were seeking the death penalty, but no longer had that option after the jury failed to convict Wallace of first-degree murder.
Following the verdict, Chief Young said the jury’s decision gave him a “deep sense of frustration and disappointment.”
“It is difficult to come to terms with a verdict that is not commensurate with the despicable crime that was committed or the loss that we and Jason’s loved ones have endured,” Young wrote in a press release. “Jason was a young man with a full life ahead of him and his life was senselessly cut short.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
