Prosecutors said the clerk shot the officer 20 times while he was buying a hot dog with family…
A Florida Circle K clerk who admitted to fatally shooting an off-duty police officer while the officer was buying a hot dog has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Eduardo Labrada Machado pleaded no contest Monday to first-degree murder in the killing of Edgewater Police Officer David Jewell, 45.
Following the plea, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn immediately sentenced Machado to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to prosecutors, Jewell was off duty inside a Circle K store in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2025, when Machado retrieved a handgun from his vehicle, concealed it beneath a jacket, returned to the store, and opened fire from behind as the officer stood at the counter with his father-in-law. Authorities said Machado shot Jewell 20 times.
Investigators said Machado later told detectives he was “having a bad day” and had experienced a “rough start” to his morning before deciding to kill Jewell. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood previously described the shooting as a calculated assassination captured on surveillance video.
“The video is probably something that in 38 years of law enforcement, that I can tell you — it’s unbelievable what you see in that video,” Chitwood said.
Law & Crime added further details:
“The defendant said he was having a bad day on his drive to work, and thought about shooting Jewell earlier,” the sheriff’s office said following Labrada Machado’s arrest. “When he arrived at work and saw Jewell, he used a handgun he recently purchased to shoot him multiple times at close range. He did not say anything to Jewell prior to shooting him.”
The defendant said he and Jewell, who lived nearby and was a regular customer at the establishment, had argued “at some point in the past.” However, Labrada Machado could never provide investigators with any details regarding what that past argument entailed, and he noted he was unaware that Jewell was a law enforcement officer, though he claimed he had previously seen the victim carrying a firearm and was “afraid of him.”
By entering the no-contest plea, Labrada Machado avoided a capital trial in which he could have faced the death penalty. State Attorney R.J. Larizza released a statement on Monday afternoon expressing hope that the finality of the life sentence would provide some closure to the slain officer’s loved ones.
“The stark brutality of this case shocked our entire community,” he said. “The defendant’s plea ensures he will never be released from prison. I hope that avoiding a long and painful trial process will give the family some measure of peace. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”
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What ever happened to a lifetime of Hard Labor for people like this?
A death sentence for him would have been much more appropriate!
We shouldn’t have to pay to support the existence of people like this!
Yes, God made no one useless and evil, but some people have made themselves so!
Jesus, on His last night before being arrested, said to His followers ‘It is becoming time to sell your cloak and to buy a sword’ ( He wasn’t talking about turning the other cheek for a simple slap on the face )!