Florida Closes the Gap: Officer Jason Raynor Act Becomes Law
When Othal Wallace shot Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor in the head during a routine stop on June 23, 2021, Raynor was 26 years old. He survived the shooting but never recovered. He died in the hospital 55 days later.
Prosecutors charged Wallace with first-degree murder and sought the death penalty. After a week of emotional testimony and 11 hours of deliberation, a Clay County jury found him guilty of manslaughter — not murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum allowed under Florida law for that charge.
For Raynor’s family, his department, and law enforcement advocates across the state, the verdict exposed a gap in Florida law. A man who shot an officer in the head, fled across state lines, and was found hiding in a treehouse on extremist militia property faced the same maximum sentence as any other manslaughter case.
That gap closed Tuesday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 156, the Officer Jason Raynor Act, into law at the Winter Haven Police Department on June 16, 2026. The law adds manslaughter of a law enforcement officer to the list of offenses requiring a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of release. Under the law that existed when Wallace was sentenced, manslaughter with a firearm carried a maximum of 30 years. Under the Raynor Act, the same crime against an officer now means life in prison.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Tom Leek and carried through the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, passed the Florida Senate by a wide margin earlier this year.
The law also addresses the circumstances of an arrest itself. It revises Florida’s prohibition on resisting law enforcement, specifying that a person may not use or threaten force against an officer who is acting in good faith and is known or reasonably appears to be a law enforcement officer. Additional provisions increase penalties for assault and battery on officers and other specified personnel.
The Raynor Act takes effect immediately upon being signed.
Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said after Wallace’s sentencing in October 2023 that the department took solace in Wallace receiving the maximum sentence the law allowed, while acknowledging it weighed heavily on the agency and the community. “Daytona Strong. Raynor Strong,” Young wrote.
Wallace’s 30-year sentence was upheld on appeal in 2025. Under the law as it existed at the time of his conviction, no further penalty was available. The Raynor Act applies to future cases.
Sources: First Coast News, September 16, 2023 (firstcoastnews.com); First Coast News, October 27, 2023 (firstcoastnews.com); News Daytona Beach, June 18, 2025 (newsdaytonabeach.com); Florida Senate Bill 156, 2026 Session (flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/156); WTSP, June 16, 2026 (wtsp.com)
