Othal Wallace: Murder trial for accused Florida police officer killer to be held in Clay County
Othal Wallace, suspect accused of killing Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor, appears for a court hearing on April 21, 2023.
ORLANDO, Fla. - The murder trial for Othal Wallace, the man facing first-degree murder in the shooting death of Daytona Beach police officer Jason Raynor, is set to begin this fall in northeast Florida.
The trial will begin Sept. 5, 2023, at a Clay County courthouse, according to court documents.
In April, a judge granted the request of Wallace's attorneys to move the trial venue out of Volusia County. Defense attorneys argued Wallace wouldn’t get a fair trial in the county due to the amount of publicity the case has gotten.
The news came as a disappointment to friends of Raynor's family who wanted the trial to be held in Central Florida.
According to investigators, Wallace shot the 26-year-old officer on the evening of June 23, 2021, while Raynor was checking for suspicious activity near an apartment complex on Kingston Street in Daytona Beach. Raynor was hospitalized for nearly two months after the shooting and ultimately died of his injuries.
Officers scrambled to find Wallace after the shooting, sparking a nationwide manhunt. He was eventually tracked down in a tree house near Georgia days later.
The State Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty against Wallace.