Othal Wallace shot a Daytona Beach police officer in the head and walked out of his sentencing in handcuffs.
He was right – until Tuesday.
DeSantis just signed a law that makes sure the next Othal Wallace never gets to say what he said next.
How a Cop Killer Walked Away With 30 Years
Jason Raynor was 26 years old when Wallace shot him in the head during a stop in Daytona Beach in June 2021.
Raynor fought for 55 days in the hospital before dying.
Prosecutors charged Wallace with first-degree murder and sought the death penalty.
The jury gave him manslaughter.
Then the system failed Jason Raynor a second time.
The state attorney's office did not include a firearm enhancement interrogatory on the verdict form – the omission that blocked Wallace from receiving a life sentence under law that already existed.
Without it, manslaughter with a firearm carried a maximum of 30 years.
Wallace got every day of it.
As he walked out of court in handcuffs, he told his family: "I love y'all, I'll be home one day."
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said what every law enforcement officer in Florida was thinking: "This is a slap in the face to not only the Daytona Beach Police Department, it's a slap in the face to anyone who puts their uniform on and goes to work."
What DeSantis Just Made Permanent
On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis signed the Officer Jason Raynor Act at the Winter Haven Police Department, surrounded by law enforcement officials, Attorney General James Uthmeier, and Peggy Raynor – Jason's mother.
The law is simple and absolute.
Kill a law enforcement officer in Florida and you die in prison.
No parole. No second chances. No verdict form omissions that let a cop killer walk away with 30 years.
The law also reclassifies assault on an officer from a second-degree misdemeanor to a first-degree misdemeanor, upgrades aggravated assault to a second-degree felony, and makes intentional resistance to an officer a third-degree felony.
DeSantis put it in plain English: "Disagreements about an arrest should be settled in a courtroom, not through violence on the street."
"If you attack a member of law enforcement in Florida, prepare to be held accountable," he said.
The Pattern That Made This Law Necessary
Florida did not pass this law in a vacuum.
Since the George Floyd riots of 2020, more than 350 officers have been killed by physical assault, gunfire, or vehicular attack across the country – a cop killed every five days for five straight years.
FBI data show the three-year stretch from 2021 through 2023 produced the highest count of officers feloniously killed in over two decades.
And the justice system has failed these officers repeatedly.
Between 2013 and 2022, 243 individuals were charged with killing a law enforcement officer – and only about half ended up convicted of murder at all.
Fifty-seven received life sentences.
Twelve received the death penalty.
In New York alone, 43 inmates sentenced for killing cops have been released since 2017.
Jason Raynor's mother was at the signing.
Her son helped serve meals to the homeless on his days off.
He was 26 when Wallace shot him in the head and fled to a treehouse in Georgia.
The Officer Jason Raynor Act is what it looks like when a state decides that cop killers do not get a second act.
"This law brings some much needed protections to law enforcement and honors the life and sacrifice of Officer Raynor," said State Attorney R.J. Larizza.
Florida is leading.
The other 49 states should follow.
Sources:
- Angel Green, "New Florida Law Mandates Life Sentence for Killing Law Enforcement Officers," WFTV/WDBO, June 16, 2026.
- Florida Politics Staff, "Prepare to Be Held Accountable: Gov. DeSantis Signs Officer Jason Raynor Act," Florida Politics, June 16, 2026.
- Michael Costeines, "DeSantis Signs Jason Raynor Act, Several Public Safety Bills Into Law," The Floridian, June 16, 2026.
- WFLA Staff, "Governor DeSantis Signs 5 Bills Focusing on Public Safety Into Law," WFLA, June 16, 2026.
- FOX 13 Staff, "DeSantis Signs Public Safety Bills to Protect Law Enforcement Officers," FOX 13 Tampa Bay, June 16, 2026.
- Jason Howerton, "Your Words Are Very Chilling: Judge Hands Down Max Sentence to Cop Killer," Law & Crime, October 27, 2023.
- Rafael Olmeda, "Othal Wallace Sentenced to 30 Years for Manslaughter of Daytona Beach Officer," Click Orlando, October 27, 2023.
- Hannah Meyers, "Cop Killers Deserve the Death Penalty," City Journal, March 7, 2025.
