JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man convicted of killing of a McDonald's employee during a daylight robbery outside the Baymeadows Road restaurant in February was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
Nesta Walker, 29, was found guilty last month of first-degree murder, robbery and fleeing in the death of Raynold Orelus, a Haitian immigrant.
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Walker testified during the trial that Orelus helped plan the robbery, and the shooting was an accident, but jurors did not believe the defense's case and did not take long to return the verdict.
Walker claimed that Orelus and a female employee of the restaurant had been planning for about a week to steal a bank deposit bag from the manager. Walker said he went out and got the gun to pull off the heist.
Walker testified that he saw Orelus accompany the manager out of the restaurant that day and approached them with the gun and got the money bag, then things went wrong.
"There was a struggle, and the gun went off," Walker said.
The prosecutors said Orelus, a father of five, was trying to help keep his boss from being robbed when he was shot twice by Walker.
Prosecution witnesses said there was no evidence Orelus had any previous contact with his accused killer. While police did investigate a tip that a female McDonald's employee was in on the robbery, and that woman did have contact with the defendant in the days before the shooting, she was never charged in the crime.
Police had said the .357 Magnum used to shoot Orelus was stolen a month earlier during a home burglary.
A weapons expert testified that the wounds that killed Orelus were from a close-contact gunshot and were probably intentionality inflicted.
Video:Audio:Raynold Orelus Killing 911 Calls
The state was not seeking the death penalty in the case.