A Marion County jury on July 1, 2026, convicted Jaylin Johnson of murder in connection with the November 2023 fatal shooting of Jose Valliant, 28, in the parking lot of a Burger King on East Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala, Florida [1]. The case proceeded to trial in Marion County Circuit Court on a murder charge premised on felony murder and criminal responsibility for the death [1].
At trial, Johnson testified that he was unarmed and did not fire the weapon that killed Valliant [1]. Prosecutors countered that Johnson bore criminal responsibility for the death regardless of whether he personally discharged the firearm, a theory consistent with Florida's felony murder doctrine [1]. The jury rejected Johnson's account and returned a guilty verdict on the murder count [1].
Following the conviction, the judge ordered a pre-sentencing investigation [1]. A sentencing hearing is expected in the fall, though no date has been formally set [1].