Attorney for accused Daytona Beach cop killer Othal Wallace to request change of venue

An attorney for Othal Wallace, the man accused of killing Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor, said Friday he plans to ask for a change of venue in the upcoming trial.

Wallace was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer in the 26-year-old Raynor's death in 2021. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The trial is set to start with jury selection on July 31.

Wallace, 30, appeared Friday morning in a courtroom at the Volusia County Branch Jail, where most of his hearings have taken place. Authorities have said the hearings are held there for security reasons.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano asked the attorneys to give him as much lead time as possible if they had to move the trial.

"Your honor, I've been working on that motion. I'll probably have that finished within the next week. Then, we'll file that and we'll hear it at the next hearing date," said Terry Shoemaker, one of Wallace's defense attorneys.

Zambrano said if the trial needs to be moved, he would speak to the attorneys privately about possible locations.

"At some point in time, I think if there is a need to change venue, I'll have an ex-parte communication with all of you as far taking your input where we should go," Zambrano said. "But for safety reasons, I don't think I'll be making that information public at anytime until it's time to do so."

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Wallace did not speak during the hearing. He walked in wearing the routine orange jail jumpsuit with his hands handcuffed to a belt, also standard for inmates appearing in court. He clasped a thick white envelope.

Wallace sat between Shoemaker and his other defense attorney, Tim Pribisco Jr. Wallace's third defense attorney, Garry Wood, who was brought in to help because of his experience with death penalty cases, sat behind them.

Officer Jason Raynor's shooting

Raynor was patrolling in an area of Daytona Beach on June 23, 2021, because residents had complained about criminal activity.

Wallace was sitting in a car outside of an apartment building at 133 Kingston Ave., where he was living with his girlfriend and their children, according to reports.

Raynor walked up to Wallace and asked him if he lived there, body camera video showed. Wallace stood up out of the car and Raynor told him to sit back down, the video showed.

After Raynor told Wallace to sit down, the video became shaky and then ended.

Police said Wallace shot Raynor in the head. Raynor’s gun was found still in its holster.

Wallace was arrested on June 26, 2021, when a task force found him hiding in a treehouse in DeKalb County, Georgia, near Atlanta.

Raynor died 55 days later on Aug. 17, 2021.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Othal Wallace trial in Daytona Beach officer's killing could move venues