Video shows treehouse where Othal Wallace was found after he police said he shot officer

The treehouse where Othal Wallace was captured last summer after authorities said he shot a Daytona Beach Police officer was roomy, with bunk beds and shelves and an assault-style rifle mounted on a wall.

A nearly one-minute-long video taken by law enforcement reveals the interior of the treehouse in a rural property in DeKalb County, Georgia, where Wallace was found after a three-day manhunt, The State Attorney’s Office released the video at the request of The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Wallace, 29, was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer in the killing of Officer Jason Raynor, 26. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano set a case management conference for Wallace on Dec. 28 at the Volusia County Branch Jail, where Wallace is being held without bond.

Wallace was sitting in his car on June 23 outside an apartment building at 133 Kingston Ave. in Daytona Beach when Raynor tried to question him, according to a report and body camera video. Wallace had been living at the address with his girlfriend, who said Wallace was the father of her children.

Raynor had been patrolling the area because residents had complained about criminal activity.

Raynor asked Wallace if he lived there, the officer's body camera video showed. Wallace stood up as Raynor told him to sit back down in the car. The video then became shaky before it ended.

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Wallace shot Raynor in the head, according to police. Raynor never unholstered his gun.

Raynor died on Aug. 17 at Halifax Health Medical Center, 55 days after he was shot.

On the night of the incident, a large dragnet of law enforcement sped to Daytona Beach to help capture Raynor's shooter.

Wallace was found about 2:30 a.m. on June 26 in the treehouse in DeKalb County outside of Atlanta by a law enforcement task force.

At least 30 officers from different agencies converged on the property, Frank Lempka, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in Georgia, said in a phone interview this week.

He said Wallace came out from inside the tree house as an officer climbed up.

“One of the Georgia SWAT officers went up the stairs into the tree house,” Lempka said. “That’s when he came out. He didn’t come out for several minutes while other areas were being checked.”

Wallace was not armed when he walked to the edge of the treehouse but he had guns nearby, Lempka said.

The law enforcement video of the treehouse begins with light from an officer’s flashlight shining down a wooden ladder toward the ground. The officer then turns toward the side and then inside of the treehouse.

The only sound except for the officer’s movements are birds chirping in the trees.

Bunk beds are placed along one wall inside the treehouse. There are also shelves containing bundles and some plastic containers.

Near the bunk beds there appeared to be a box for a Domino's pizza.

A rifle magazine is on a pegboard along one wall. Below the magazine is the assault-style rifle.

There also appeared to be some earmuffs used to protect against the sound of gunshots.

On a shelf nearby there are some other items but they are mostly out of view in the video.

Inside, the light illuminates shelves stocked with bundles and some plastic containers. Some sandals are on the wooden floor, as are what appear to be electrical cords. A can of what appears to be mosquito repellent is also on the floor.

Other items were on the floor including a pair of boots. A short string of Christmas lights hung on a wall.

Lempka said officers also found body armor in the treehouse. The property seemed like a training area for survivalists, he said..

Wallace was a member of the NFAC, a Black militia. But he had left the militia around the end of 2020 or the start of 2021.

While there were two other individuals on the property off Smith James Road in DeKalb County, no one else was arrested.

Wallace’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Rosemarie Peoples, could not be reached for comment about the video. Public Defender Matt Metz called in her stead and declined to comment on the case.

Wallace had a hearing scheduled for Oct. 29, but Peoples filed a motion saying she needed more time to prepare for it. Peoples wrote that a COVID-19 outbreak at the jail delayed Wallace’s ability to fully review evidence in-person with his defense.

Peoples also wrote that she had not had the chance to schedule depositions with more than 60 witnesses listed by the prosecution in Volusia, Duval, Orange and Alachua counties in Florida or in Dekalb and Fulton counties in Georgia.

She also wrote there was not enough time to fully investigate mitigating issues or prepare for the penalty phase.

If Wallace is convicted, the jury will then decide whether to recommend he be sentenced to death. If the jury unanimously recommends death, then the judge can either sentence him to death or life without parole. If not all jurors recommend death, then the judge must sentence him to life without parole.

Death-penalty cases typically take at least two years to go to trial.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified 7th Circuit Public Defender Matt Metz.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Treehouse hiding accused killer of Jason Raynor shown in police video