TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a man they say murdered a police officer in cold blood in September.
Volusia County deputies said on Sept. 15, Eduardo Felipe Labrada Machado, 24, gunned down David Jewell, 45, at an Ormond-by-the-Sea Circle K. Jewell was an Edgewater police officer and had been off-duty at the time.
Authorities said Machado, who worked at the gas station, shot Jewell over 20 times, with investigators finding 24 shell casings at the scene.
“The medical examiner opined that there were at least 20 gunshot wounds, but he couldn’t tell for sure because there were so many gunshot wounds,” said R.J. Larizza, state attorney for Florida’s Seventh Judicial District.
To this day, there is no exact motive behind why Machado shot Jewell. Authorities said Machado had purchased the firearm used in the crime days before and picked it up hours before killing the off-duty officer.
“It’s very clear that it was premeditated,” Larizza said.
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office said Machado told investigators he was having a bad day and had been thinking about shooting Jewell, whom he had seen in the Circle K several times earlier.
Due to the nature of the crime, the state attorney announced his office will be seeking the death penalty, alleging that it was “heinous, atrocious, and cruel.” He said it could take longer to get a trial date in a case like this.
“It’s not unusual for a death penalty case to linger for four to six, maybe even seven years, but of course, that’s better than if you have to try it over and over and over again,” Larizza said.
The state attorney said Machado, a Cuban native, had been in the country legally for 10 years on a green card. He had no prior violent criminal history.
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