Convicted cop killer Othal Wallace sentenced to 30 years in Jason Raynor's death

Convicted cop killer Othal Wallace was sentenced Friday to the maximum 30 years in prison in the murder of Daytona Beach police officer Jason Raynor.

Wallace had been charged with first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, which carried a possible death sentence. A Clay County jury found him guilty on Sept. 16 of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The trial was moved due to publicity.

In convicting Wallace of manslaughter, the jury also bypassed a second-degree murder charge, which is punishable by up to life in prison. Manslaughter was the lowest charge Wallace faced.

Daytona Beach police chief releases statement on Wallace sentencing

Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young issued a statement which read in part: "The line-of-duty death of Officer Jason Raynor was an immense tragedy, one that still weighs heavily on this agency and our community. Today, we take solace in the knowledge that the perpetrator of this heinous crime has received the maximum sentence allowed by law following his manslaughter conviction.

"Since the day Officer Raynor lost his life protecting and serving others, our community has sought justice for this senseless act of evil. Now, the judicial proceedings in this case have concluded, but our love for Jason remains. Always.

"We also take comfort in the knowledge that a hero remembered never dies, and Officer Jason Raynor will never be forgotten. Officer Raynor will not be remembered for the way he died, but for those ideals he embodied in life — honor, courage and dedication — and his willingness to lay down his life in service to others."

Judge sentences Wallace to maximum 30 years in prison

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano sentenced Wallace to the maximum of 30 years in prison.

“You, however, achieved your goal of getting blood on your boots and now you are being held accountable for your actions,” Judge Zambrano said.

Seventh Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza said 30 years was inadequate, but that it was the maximum Wallace could receive on the manslaughter charge.

Anything less than 30 years would be a "travesty," Larizza said, and would have sent a message that it was acceptable to kill police officers.

After the verdict, Wallace's defense team said they would look at all of their appeal options.

Wallace asks for 'community control' instead of prison

Wallace, in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, stood before the judge.

Wallace asked Zambrano to place him on community control, telling the judge he would not regret it.

Wallace said it was an unfortunate situation. He said he too was a parent and understood the grief of losing a child. He said he would have the same feelings if his child was in the situation.

“I do respect the way they feel about what’s going on,” Wallace said.

“I also want to assure them I’m not a monster,” Wallace said. “I’m a citizen of this country just like they are.”

He said he didn't have anything personal against Raynor.

“This is not an action that was personally egregious to him as a person or to his family,” Wallace said.

“I didn’t get to know Mr. Raynor until after the fact,” he said.

Wallace referred to Raynor’s body camera video the shooting.

“As you see, we had mere seconds to come to some understanding and unfortunately we never reached understanding before this situation transpired,” Wallace said.

He said he was just returning home after visiting one of his children and unwinding outside the apartment where his girlfriend lived with two of his other children.

He said he didn’t understand why Raynor approached him.

Wallace said if he could relive the situation, he could do something different.

“In the moment the fear that I felt is what generated the reaction,” Wallace said.

Wallace said he was allowed to protect himself.

“As a person I get to embrace the constitution and what comes with that is a responsibility to protect  myself,” Wallace said.

As for his social media posts, he referred to issues facing the country at the time.

“I made some choice words that I never intended to act upon,” Wallace said.

Wallace's family members ask for leniency

Wallace's family members were given the opportunity to speak. They described him as a loving person who was always helping his family. They said Wallace is a good father.

Family members said Wallace was not a monster or a murderer. They said both families, Raynor’s and Wallace’s, have suffered due to the shooting.

They have asked for leniency and to allow Wallace to return to being a father.

They also extended their condolences to Raynor's family.

Jason Raynor's mother 'disgusted' by manslaughter verdict

Raynor’s mother, Margaret "Peggy" Raynor, read a letter she wrote to Raynor. She spoke about his honesty, courage and integrity.

She said she still had Raynor’s sports-themed baby blanket.

“I had planned to give it to your baby — the baby you will never father,” she said.

She remembered his beautiful eyes.

“One of those beautiful eyes was shot out with a bullet,” she said.

She thanked him for taking his first job where she worked so she could see how honest and hard-working he was. She said he helped her cook and serve meals for the homeless.

She said she had heard amazing things about him.

She showed a sonogram picture of Raynor to the judge and also the last shoes she bought for him.

“You were a wonderful precious son,” she said.

She said she respects the law but then said people aren’t given all the information, or enter the building with their minds made up or are bullying others. She did not elaborate.

“This is not justice,” she said.

She said Wallace showed no remorse.

“I’m disgusted with the verdict of manslaughter,” she said.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young addresses courtroom

Young extended his sincere condolences to Raynor’s family.

He said Raynor’s death had a “profound impact on the entire department” and it “wreaked havoc on morale.”

He said officers were simply trying to make it through the shift, they became reactive rather than proactive. Some officers resigned because they didn’t have the heart to continue. He said it was hard to recruit new officers because they said Daytona Beach was too dangerous.

He said there was a lot of resentment and blame to go around, people saying "if I had done this, it wouldn’t have happened."

“The main part that I can’t get past is that had the defendant just sat down in that vehicle this wouldn’t have happened,” Young said.

He said the department was in a better place now.

Young said he had been the police chief for seven months when he got a call he hoped to never get.

“When you hear the words as a police chief you have an officer down it’s a gut punch, it’s a gut punch. It makes it hard to breath just thinking about that,” Young said.

Young said he heard Wallace testify at his trial about his background, including time in South Florida.

Young said he grew up in Broward County in the 1990s and he wishes police had approached him the way Raynor approached Wallace.

“I can tell you what I did. I complied. I complied and I made sure I got back to my house safely because I did what I was told,” Young said.

Young said that Raynor was just 26 when he was killed and had not spent even 30 years on earth.

He said Wallace’s maximum sentence of 30 years should be non-negotiable.

Court in recess while judge reads additional letters

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano read out the names of the letters he had read from family and friends of Jason Raynor. But the judge said he had not read any other letters because they were submitted without a notice of filing and were ex-parte communications.

Defense attorney Garry Wood apologizes and asked Zambrano to read letters submitted by the defense.

Larizza said prosecutors also had an additional letter he’d like the judge to read.

Zambrano said that would mean he would have to read 20 letters.

When both sides said they would like him to read the letters, Zambrano said he would and recessed court until 9 a.m., returning to his chambers to read the letters.

Wallace was returned to a holding cell.

Wallace faces up to 30 years in prison

Wallace faces up to a maximum of 30 years in prison. State sentencing guidelines set his minimum sentence at 10.5 years.

But Wallace's defense attorneys have filed a request for him to be sentenced less than 10.5 years.

Wallace, 31, shot Raynor on June 23, 2021. The 26-year-old remained hospitalized until his death on Aug. 17, 2021.

Wallace was sitting in his car behind a Daytona Beach apartment building at 133 Kingston Ave. where he lived with the mother of two of his children. Raynor drove up in his marked patrol car, got out and walked up to Wallace. Raynor asked Wallace if he lived there. Wallace responded by asking what was going on. Wallace stood up out of his car, and Raynor told him several times to sit. The video became shaky as there was a brief struggle and Wallace drew his 9 mm Glock and shot Raynor.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Othal Wallace sentenced to maximum 30 years