CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A jury will soon decide the fate of a man accused of shooting and killing a Daytona Beach Police Officer. 

On Wednesday, jurors heard a third day of testimony in Clay County in the murder trial of Othal Wallace, who is accused of shooting and killing Daytona Beach police officer Jason Raynor in 2021. 

The trial was moved from Volusia County to Clay County due to concerns of pretrial publicity.

Wallace’s attorneys say he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed Raynor in June, while prosecutors argue that Raynor was targeted because he was a police officer. 

The jury heard from several witnesses Wednesday, including a medical examiner, who detailed officer Raynor’s extensive injuries that proved fatal nearly two months after the shooting.

Jurors looked on closely, with at least one becoming visibly upset, as Volusia County medical examiner Mary Ripple described injuries Raynor suffered when he was shot in the head.

“I make measurements from the top of the head to the sides, so you sort of connect the dots,” she said. “This is where the bullet was found and this is where it went in.”

Ripple said her examination showed Raynor lost an eye, had part of his skull reconstructed and his organs were failing before he eventually died as a result of the shooting. 

She says while performing an autopsy, she found several bullet fragments still in Raynor’s head. 

She was one of several witnesses who testified about Raynor’s injuries as the state works to prove he was killed because he was a law enforcement officer — a claim the state first made on Monday during opening statements in the trial.

“He murdered officer Jason Raynor because he was a cop, because he was the police, because he was a law enforcement officer,” said Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak said Monday.  “To him, officer Raynor was just a pig.”

Wallace’s defense attorneys are trying to convince jurors he acted in self-defense, saying he had no other choice but to shoot Raynor when the officer approached him on Kingston Avenue in Daytona Beach. 

Bodycam video played for jurors shows Raynor asking Wallace if he lived nearby when he approached him.

Wallace was captured four days after the shooting in Georgia. 

Raynor died from his injuries 55 days after the shooting, and prosecutors asked Ripple what she thought about how long Raynor lived, despite his extensive injuries.

“He had a pretty bad brain injury, and I’m a little surprised he lived that long,” she said.

The state is expected to wrap up its case Thursday morning. 

Wallace’s defense is expected to call witnesses to the stand, but it’s unclear if Wallace himself will take the stand in his own defense. The jury is slated to start deliberations Friday morning. 

If convicted, Wallace could face the death penalty.