Eduardo Labrado Machado, 24, had been working for four years as a clerk at the Circle K on State Road A1A in Ormond Beach near Wisteria Drive. He’d served David Jewell, a police officer in Edgewater, 15 to 20 times in that span. They’d once had an argument and for a while Machado had been scared of Jewell, but time passed and Machado forgot about the argument.
Last September 15, Jewell walked into the store at 4:04 p.m. He was off duty and unarmed. He had just picked up his father-in-law from the emergency room and was taking him home, but had stopped at the Circle K to get his father-in-law a Polar Pop.
Machado walked out to his car soon after Jewell had walked in, and retrieved a black jacket.
Back in the store, he pulled out a Glock model 20 and shot Jewell in the head, then stood over Jewell and shot 19 more times. The murder was captured by the store’s cameras. Machado walked back to his car, put the jacket and the gun back in it, and walked back to the store before walking out, removing his shirt, throwing it in the trash and disappearing. He was arrested at 4:19 p.m. at Briggs Drive and John Anderson Drive.
Today, after pleading to first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn sentenced Machado to life in prison.
The afternoon of the shooting he had admitted to killing Jewell in an interview with detectives, according to his arrest report, telling them he had not been scared of him that day, but that he’d had a rough start to his day, and on his drive to work, he had thought about Jewell. He had also thought about killing him. Machado said there’d been no words exchanged between him and Jewell.
He had just bought the gun, and picked it up from the gun store the day before. He told detectives he “knew what he did was wrong and that’s why he walked away from the scene after he shot the person,” according to the arrest report. According to Fox 35, family members had told detectives that Machado had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and claimed he heard voices.
“The stark brutality of this case shocked our entire community,” State Attorney R.J.
Larizza was quoted as saying in a release issued by his office this afternoon. “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.”
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak prosecuted it. Machado was represented by defense attorney Brian Smith. Jewell’s family has sued Circle K and is seeking $20 million in damages.
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