VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The state attorney in Volusia County plans to seek the death penalty in the case against 24-year-old Eduardo Machado, who is accused of fatally shooting an Edgewater officer at a gas station last month.
RJ Larizza, state attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit, announced the decision on Monday against Machado, who is accused of killing Officer David Jewell.
According to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, Machado “confessed to the murder” and had seen Jewell in the store several times prior to the shooting.
[VIDEO: Judge seals gas station clerk’s reported confession in Edgewater police officer’s death]
“We are alleging that it was heinous, atrocious and cruel and cold, calculated and premeditated,” Larizza said.
[WATCH BELOW: Vigil held for fallen Edgewater officer David Jewell]
“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,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said during a news conference.
Larizza also announced that 40-year-old Stevens Charles, who is one of three burglary suspects accused in a fatal crash on Interstate 95, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, resisting an officer with violence, and aggravated fleeing and eluding.
Investigators say Charles was driving the Chevy Suburban was being pursued by law enforcement and fled into Ormond Beach, where they say he drove the wrong way up an exit ramp and crashed head-on into a Volkswagen Beetle, killing 71-year-old Julia Wagner of Ormond Beach.