This is a harrowing story of how one man David Martin Florida murdered a man (Jacey McWilliams) so brutally that as punishment for his crime, he is now sentenced to death row. 

Who was Jacey McWilliams?

Jacey McWilliams was brutally murdered in 2008 by David Martin Florida. Her life was sadly cut short, due to one man’s abusive and criminal behavior. But who was Jacey McWilliams?

Jacey McWilliams was a 23-year-old woman who had previously lived in Winchendon before moving to Jacksonville, Florida. It was here in Florida that she met 21-year-old David Martin Florida.

According to Jacey McWilliams’s mother, Jacey McWilliams attended a high school in Winchendon called Murdock Middle High School. Jacey McWilliams moved to Winchendon when she was around 13 or 14 years old.

Jacey McWilliams was working in Jacksonville, Florida at the service department in a car dealership.

Who is David Martin Florida?

David Martin is a white man who was charged with the murder of Jacey McWilliams. But who is David Martin? Let’s take a look at who this guy is and what caused him to murder an innocent woman.

David Martin was 21 years old when he committed the atrocious act. It is said that David Martin Florida had a strong criminal past. It is said that David Martin already had prior charges against him such as shoplifting before being charged with murder.

The murder of Jacey McWilliams

Jacey McWilliams was found dead in the woods in Middleburg, Florida on March 20th, 2008. Sources such as WJXT and KGPE which are two news sources in Jacksonville, Florida reported that Jacey McWilliams’s body was found by the police.

But before her death, Jacey McWilliams was reported missing by her mother Christine McWilliams. Here is a full timeline before Jacey McWilliam’s death as recounted by her mother:

1. 13th March 2008 Jacey McWilliams missing: Christine McWilliams reported to the police that her daughter, Jacey McWilliams was missing. She was getting more and more concerned as she had come to know that her daughter had not gone to work for two consecutive days which is unlike Jacey McWilliams.
2. Tracking Jacey McWilliams: After learning that Jacey McWilliams is missing, police used methods of tracking Jacey McWilliams’s steps. They tracked her steps back to March 11th, when it was reported that she was last seen at the dealership where she worked.
3. Jacey McWilliams missing, the last call: After determining Jacey McWilliam’s last seen location, police began tracking when was her cellphone last used. It was determined that Jacey McWilliam’s cellphone was last used at 9:22 pm on the 11th of March.
4. Jacey McWilliams’s last call: On the 11th of March at 9:22 pm, Jacey McWilliams made a phone call to her mother Christine McWilliams informing her that she would be going out with a friend named David.
5. Jacey McWilliam’s and David Martin: Earlier on the 11th, it was later known that Jacey McWilliam’s had informed a coworker that she would be spending the night with David Martin Florida.
6. Jacey McWilliam and David Martin, how they met: According to Jacey McWilliam’s coworkers, Jacey had met David Martin a few weeks before the 11th of March through a coworker’s fiance. The group had gone out a few times and seemed to hit it off.
7. According to police reports, Jacey McWilliams had picked up David Martin Florida from David Martin’s residence in Jacksonville. The pair then drove to Black Creed, Middleburg, Florida.
8. David Martin Florida’s arrest: On the 17th of March, David Martin was arrested for shoplifting, however, it was his arrest that ultimately led police to piece together the puzzle of Jacey McWilliam’s murder.
9. David Martin was arrested in Pinellas County, while Jacey McWilliams’s case was being investigated by the Clay County’s Sheriff’s Office.
10. Both counties coordinated to find Jacey McWilliams. It was this effort that led them to the discovery that David Martin was found with Jacey McWilliams’s car but Jacey McWilliams was still missing.

As per the timeline, it can be presumed that Jacey McWilliams was murdered on the 11th of March, but at the time when they had David Martin Florida in custody, the police were not yet aware of the fact that Jacey McWilliams was already dead. At that time, their main objective was to question David Martin about the whereabouts of Jacey McWilliams.

Here is a recount of what went down during David Martin’s questioning

On the 20th of March, detectives from both counties joined together at Pinellas jail where David Martin was being held to question him.

David Martin was questioned by the authorities regarding the whereabouts of Jacey McWilliams. During his questioning, David Martin Florida’s story about the time he spent with Jacey McWilliams on the 11th of March kept changing and evolving as the questioning went on.

According to David Martin’s testimony

– David Martin stated that Jacey McWilliams had picked him up from his house in Jacksonville, Florida.

– David Martin had also claimed that Jacey McWilliam’s home was located in Jacksonville, Florida and that he had dropped her home after they had spent a nice time together.

• As for being found with Jacey McWilliam’s car, David Martin Florida claimed that Jacey McWilliam had let him borrow her car and that he paid $50 as a fee for letting him borrow the car.
  
  
• According to this statement, David Martin needed Jacey McWilliam’s car because he had to go visit his girlfriend who lives in St. Petersburg.
  
  
• After spending time with his girlfriend, David Martin returned to Jacksonville on the 13th of March to pack all of his stuff and head back to St. Petersburg as he and his girlfriend were planning on moving to Georgia. 

Now here is where an interesting twist comes in, during the interrogation David Martin Florida later changed his story and told the detectives that he did not borrow the car from Jacey McWilliams but took it forcefully. 

According to claims made by David Martin, Jacey McWilliams was not so keen on lending her car to him. This infuriated David Martin thus causing an altercation to arise between him and Jacey McWilliams. As a result of this, David Martin pushed Jacey McWilliam out of the car and left her alive at Black Creek.

The story changed a third time when David Martin finally confessed to the murder of Jacey McWilliams. This is how his confession went:

• David Martin and Jacey McWilliams were out smoking cigarettes in Middleburg, Florida.
• David Martin had received a phone call from his girlfriend that caused him to freak out because he was out. As a result of this, David Martin attacked Jacey McWilliams.
• David Martin lied to Jacey McWilliams that he was to get a cigarette from Jacey’s car, instead, he went to retrieve a hammer. This hammer was used to strike Jacey McWilliams across the head thus resulting in David Martin murdering Jacey McWilliams.
• David Martin claims that during the time he had attacked Jacey McWilliams with the hammer, he was in a state of blur and does not remember much from the incident.
• David Martin Florida remembers dragging Jacey McWilliam’s lifeless body and hiding it in nearby bushes. 

After a long three hours in the interrogation room, David Martin Florida had finally come forward and openly admitted to murdering Jacey McWilliams. Without David Martin’s cooperation, the cops may have never in fact found Jacey McWilliam’s body.

It was David Martin’s help in that he pinpointed on a map the exact location of where he had dispersed Jacey McWilliam’s body.

Why did David Martin murder, Jacey McWilliams?

After having confessed to the police about the murder of Jacey McWilliams, David Martin provided an even more thorough insight into why he was murdered in the first place.

According to reports, David Martin Florida stated that he had Jacey McWilliam’s murder as a result of feeling overwhelmed and not knowing what to do about hurting his girlfriend.

Per police reports, David Martin had stated that he had felt really bad for hurting the woman he loved by being with Jacey McWilliams when his girlfriend had called. It was reported that David Martin’s girlfriend was getting wary of his relationship with Jacey McWilliams.

The constant phone calls and texts from David Martin’s girlfriend were enough to drive him over the edge. David needed a quick way to cut all ties with Jacey McWilliam and this is why he resorted to murder.

But murder was not enough for David Martin. Police later discovered that David Florida had tried to use Jacey McWilliam’s ATM card to withdraw cash.

David Martin is a man of no compassion who murdered an innocent woman Jacey McWilliam simply because he could not control the overwhelming feeling of guilt he was having for being dishonest and potentially cheating on his girlfriend.

David Martin’s sentencing for Jacey McWilliam’s murder

David Martin Florida was convicted of the murder of Jacey McWilliams in March 2008.

After a long and winding process, and court proceedings in which David Martin’s testimony of Jacey McWilliam’s murder differed from what he had confessed on the day he was arrested.

Using forensic evidence, hearing testimonies from witnesses, and David Martin’s testimony the jury concluded that David Martin was guilty of Jacey McWilliam’s murder and charged David Martin with one count of first-degree murder and one count of armed robbery.

As David Martin was charged with first-degree murder, and the nature in which he murdered Jacey McWilliam was so severe, Martin has been sentenced to death row where he is set to be executed.

Currently, David Martin is being held at the Florida Department of Corrections. He was indicted on the 18th of March 2010. His sentence is what you would call a maximum sentence.

Also Read: A CSI Story: The story of how Rachel Mullenix and Ian Mullen murdered Barbara Mullenix