(This story was updated to include new information.)
A Circle K clerk who shot and killed an off-duty Edgewater police officer last year in Ormond-by-the-Sea will spend the rest of his life in prison as part of a plea deal in which he avoided a possible death sentence if convicted at trial.
Eduardo Labrada Machado, 25, pleaded no contest May 18 to first-degree murder with a firearm in the killing of Edgewater Police Officer David Jewell.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn adjudicated him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Labrada Machado was working when Jewell stopped by the store Sept. 15, 2025, on his way home from picking up his father-in-law from a hospital. Jewell was off-duty, out-of-uniform and unarmed when he walked into the convenience store, according to investigators.
Labrada Machado went out to his car and got a Glock he had picked up two hours earlier. Jewell was standing at the counter waiting to pay when Labrada Machado walked back into the store, immediately raised his gun and shot Jewell, according to a video.
Labrada Machado repeatedly shot Jewell multiple times in the head, even as the officer was on the floor.
The courtroom was packed with Jewell’s family and friends. Members of the Edgewater Police Department attended, including Chief Charles Geiger. Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood and a number of deputies also attended the hearing.
As family members and officers spoke, a photo of David Jewell in his police uniform was displayed on a screen.
The photo contained the caption “Rest in peace” and listed his birthday, Sept. 28, 1979, and the day he was slain on Sept. 15, 2025, just 13 days shy of what would have been his 46 birthday.
Circle K cop killer pleads no contest, sentenced to life
Labrada Machado had previously been before the court without an interpreter, but an interpreter was provided today to prevent any misunderstandings, Judge Blackburn said.
When asked whether he swore to tell the truth, Labrada Machado said he would.
“Lo Juro” he replied in Spanish, meaning “I swear to.”
The judge asked him routine questions which are part of a plea.
He responded he was 25 and graduated high school before ending his education.
He said his primary language was Spanish but that he understood English.
Labrada Machado said “si,” meaning “yes,” he understood the rights he was waiving.
He answered “si” again when asked if he understood that he would be sentenced to life without parole.
He answered “si” that he took some medications, but the medication did not impact his understanding. He was not asked what medications he was taking and he did not say.
He said to get the life sentence, he was pleading “no contest.”
He said he entered the plea because he believed it was in his best interest.
Wife: Jewell loved being an officer, loved his family more
Jewell’s wife, Elizabeth Jewell, began her impact statement by saying that she had woken up to the love of her life for 5,921 mornings. Then she talked about the somber mornings.
“Two hundred and forty-five: That’s the number of mornings I’ve woken up alone, still reaching for my husband beside me before I’m forced back into reality that he’s no longer here,” she said.
She said that Jewell loved being a police officer but he loved his family more.
“I knew him as a husband, a father and a friend, funny, generous, helpful, kind and incredibly sweet,” she said.
She said she was diagnosed with a disabling illness one year into the marriage.
“He never complained. He never made me feel like a burden. … We had a once-in-a-lifetime love, the kind that people spend their life looking for.”
Edgewater Police chief praises Jewell
Geiger said Jewell loved his family and was a great police officer.
“David was not defined by the badge alone. He was defined by the way he wore it, by the way he served, by the way he treated people, by the way he carried himself in moments when others needed calm, compassion, strength and courage,” Geiger said.
“David was a servant in the truest sense of the word. He would do anything for anyone, not because it was expected of him, not because he wanted recognition. This is simply who David was,” Geiger said.
He said that Jewell’s legacy will be carried by the police department and the community.
“There is not a day that goes by in the Edgewater Police Department that David is not remembered,” Geiger said. “His name is spoken, his laugh is remembered, his absence is felt in briefings, in hallways, on calls and in the quiet moments when everyone knows something is missing.”
Edgewater Police Officer David Jewell ‘never had a chance’
Kristine Altizer, Jewell’s sister-in-law, took the stand and recounted the heavy toll Jewell’s killing has had on the family and how he is missed at family events, including dinners and events like birthdays and graduations. She said her father considered him a son and died six months after Jewell’s murder.
She said she was “100% confident” that there was never a “negative interaction” or confrontation between Jewell and Labrada Machado. She said had that been the case, Jewell would have insisted that her father not go there and he would not have shopped at the store, especially unarmed.
She said the safety of the family and ensuring he returned home to his wife were a top priorities for Jewell.
She said Sept. 15, 2025, started for her with a text about her father who had fallen. She said family took him to the emergency room. The hospital offered to admit him but her father declined. She said she offered to drive her father home, but he wanted Jewell to pick him up.
“We loaded my dad in the truck and we said our I love yous, not ever imagining that it would be our last,” she said.
Altizer said her brother-in-law remained until he was sure she had gotten to her car safely.
“Then he waved with a huge smile and drove away, the last time I’d ever see him,” Altizer said.
A while later she received a text from her sister saying there had been a shooting at the Circle K in Ormond-by-the-Sea and that her father and Jewell were there and Jewell was not answering his phone.Jewell never failed to answer a call from her sister.
She said that they believed that Jewell must have been helping, that Jewell must have stopped someone trying to rob the store.
“Then our worst nightmare just became reality. It was him. He had been killed,” she said.
She said the family still thought he must have been trying to help when he was killed, because he was a “helper.”
“It would make sense that he would take a bullet to save someone else but as we all know that wasn’t the case,” Altizer said. “He was unarmed. He had his back turned. Obviously comfortable and unaware, being a familiar setting that was so routine. He was unsuspecting and never had a chance.”
State Attorney says Circle K clerk shot Edgewater officer 20 times
State Attorney R.J. Larizza stated in a press release after the sentencing that Jewell was shot 20 times.
Larizza stated that Labrada Machado told Volusia Sheriff’s Office detectives he had had a “rough start” to his day and had thought about killing Jewell during his drive to work.
“The stark brutality of this case shocked our entire community, ” State Attorney R.J. Larizza stated in the release. “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.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Circle K cop killer pleads no contest, sentenced to life in prison
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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