EDGEWATER, Fla. – A candlelight vigil is planned Friday night for Edgewater police Officer David Jewell, who was shot and killed Monday while off duty in Ormond-by-the-Sea.
The vigil at Edgewater Alliance Church is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., the Edgewater Police Department said on social media, highlighting parking areas along North Ridgewood Avenue.
“Please be respectful of surrounding businesses and be patient with us as we expect a large attendance,” the post states.
Jewell’s body was escorted by family and law enforcement on Thursday.
Later, a judge agreed to seal the confession of Jewell’s accused killer — Eduardo Machado, 24, a gas station clerk at the Ormond-by-the-Sea Circle K where Jewell died — after his attorney argued it would give him a better chance for a fair trial.
Machado has entered a written plea of not guilty. He’s due back in court for an arraignment hearing on Oct. 21, records show.
Jewell, 45, 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, investigators said.
According to Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, Machado told deputies he was having a bad day on his way to work on Monday and had thought about shooting Jewell earlier that day, whom he had seen in the store several times prior. 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, Chitwood said.
“To watch the evil and the calculatedness 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.”
[WATCH BELOW: Man accused of shooting, killing off-duty Edgewater police officer]
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.”
A private funeral service for Jewell is planned for a later date.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Jewell’s family. Click here to find it.
[WATCH: Judge seals gas station clerk’s reported confession in Edgewater police officer’s death]