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Judge rejects plea deal for former Florida deputy Andrew Lawson
Former Brevard County sheriff's deputy Andrew Lawson left court Monday without a sentence after a judge rejected a plea deal in the fatal shooting of his best friend.
VIERA, Fla. - Former Brevard County sheriff's deputy Andrew Lawson left court Monday without a sentence after a judge rejected a plea deal in the fatal shooting of his best friend.
The judge’s decision came after the victim’s family pushed for a harsher punishment than the maximum seven-year sentence allowed under the agreement.
The backstory:
In December 2022, Brevard County sheriff's deputies Andrew Lawson and Austin Walsh were playing Call of Duty, when Lawson picked up a gun and pointed it at his best friend. He says he was merely doing that as a joke, and he did not believe the gun was loaded.
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He pulled the trigger, and it didn’t fire.
So he says he cocked the gun, pulled the trigger again, and shot his 23-year-old roommate in the face, then called 911 to report what he’d done.
The arguments
The defense spent a lot of time in Friday’s sentencing hearing trying to emphasize to the judge that Lawson thought the gun was not loaded, and this was an accident.
Prosecutors say he went through extensive training and should have known to never point the gun at someone, let alone pull the trigger.
The impact
Walsh’s friends and family members pleaded with the judge to not accept the deal that would give Lawson a 7-year maximum sentence.
They argued that as a deputy, he should be held to a higher standard, not granted extra leniency.
The plea
Lawson pleaded guilty to manslaughter, with a deal that capped his possible sentence at 7 years. He asked the judge for no prison time.
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After hearing the evidence and arguments presented in Friday’s sentencing hearing, then listening to victim impact statements, the judge chose not to accept the plea due to the 7-year-cap.
What's next:
The judge gave Lawson the option to withdraw his plea and go to trial or attempt to plead again later after renegotiating with the state, or enter an open plea where she could sentence him with no limitations. He chose to withdraw.
The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and from court proceedings on Jan. 30, 2026.