VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – During a hearing on Thursday, a judge agreed to seal the confession of a gas station clerk accused of shooting and killing an off-duty Edgewater police officer from the public after his attorney argued it would give a better chance for a fair trial.
The fatal shooting happened around 4 p.m. Monday at a Circle K in Ormond-by-the-Sea. The gas station clerk, 24-year-old Eduardo Machado, was arrested and faces a first-degree murder charge.
According to the sheriff’s office, Machado “confessed to the murder” and had seen the Edgewater police officer, identified as 45-year-old David Jewell, in the store several times prior to the shooting.
[WATCH BELOW: Community pays tribute to Edgewater police Officer David Jewell]
A public defender representing Machado filed a motion Wednesday, asking the court to keep the confession sealed from the public until the case is “determined by adjudication, dismissal, or other final disposition.”
“My effort is nothing should be released to the public that is anything close to a confession until such time as this court has a chance to determine whether or not it’s a real confession,” his attorney Larry Avallone said.
The judge in Thursday’s hearing agreed to seal the confession from the public. The confession, however, has already been released in an arrest report and discussed in news conferences after the shooting.
Machado entered a written plea of not guilty. He is due back in court for an arraignment hearing on Oct. 21.
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This hearing comes hours after a procession was held for Jewell, whose body was escorted by family and law enforcement. A private funeral service is planned for a later date, but a candlelight vigil will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Edgewater Alliance Church.
Jewell worked at the Edgewater Police Department for the last two years. He previously worked at the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and the Lake Helene Police Department.
[RELATED: Who is David Jewell, the Edgewater police officer shot and killed while off duty?]
Machado told deputies he was having a bad day on his way to work Monday and had thought about shooting Jewell earlier that day, officials said. Jewell had stopped at the Circle K to pick up drinks on the way home from picking up his father-in-law from the hospital, according to Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood.
Surveillance video showed Machado walking out of the store soon after Jewell had walked in, officials said. Chitwood showed part of the video during a news conference on Tuesday that showed Machado walk back into the store before shooting Jewell “multiple times” in the back of the head.
“I’m not going out on a limb on saying this: That gun was bought for one purpose and one purpose alone. That gun was bought to assassinate Police Officer Jewell for whatever reason this guy was thinking,” Chitwood said.
[WATCH BELOW: Man accused of shooting, killing off-duty Edgewater police officer]
The sheriff said the handgun used in the shooting was purchased by Machado on Sept. 5 and picked up a couple of hours prior to the shooting. Deputies later found the weapon inside a jacket in the back seat of Machado’s vehicle, officials said.
“I will tell you — with 38 years of policing, homicide detective at the time the fourth largest city in the country — to watch the evil and the calculating-ness of what he did to Officer Jewell, you cannot describe it," Chitwood said. “To unload, stop, reload and then just go right back at it again and fire additional shots. Again, we’re talking 24 shots from, probably, between 1 and 2 feet away.”
Machado told deputies he believed he may have had an argument with Jewell at some point in the past, but could not provide details about it, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said Machado’s family members told deputies that he had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder in the past and that he was “hearing voices.” Chitwood said this information has not yet been confirmed.
Hundreds of people have left flowers, notes or wreaths on Jewell’s patrol car, which has been parked outside the Edgewater Police Department.
“There’s so much evil in this world today,” one community member said. “For something like this to happen to an innocent individual that would protect you from the evil, it’s just one less person we have to do that.”
An investigation is ongoing.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Jewell’s family. Click here to check it out.
[WATCH BELOW: Community mourns fallen Edgewater officer as investigation continues]