Cop killer granted clemency by Trump is convicted in Florida of attacking his wife

ORLANDO — A man whose life sentence in the 1990 killing of a police officer was commuted by former President Donald Trump was convicted of domestic battery in Orange County earlier this year — which could land him back in federal prison.

In May, a county jury found Jaime Davidson, who was granted clemency in the last days of Trump’s presidency, guilty of attacking his wife, Nayeli Chang. Court records state Davidson, 55, is appealing his case, for which he was sentenced to three months behind bars.

Davidson’s conviction was first reported by Judd Legum of the website Popular Information, which obtained court transcripts detailing the case against him. According to an arrest affidavit and her in-court testimony, his wife said they got into an argument in 2023 after she found messages on his phone indicating he planned to leave the marriage after five months together once he found a new place to live.

After she told him to leave, Chang said Davidson grabbed her by the neck but eventually let go after she threatened to call police, a court transcript of her testimony said. She then called police despite him telling her she would be deported, the affidavit said.

Davidson was eventually convicted of domestic battery, a misdemeanor. The jury acquitted him of a third-degree felony battery charge.

The case flew under the radar until Popular Information connected it to Davidson’s controversial commutation while serving a life sentence for the murder of Syracuse, New York, police Officer Wallie Howard Jr. Though Trump commuted his sentence for Howard’s murder, he was still on supervised release — the federal equivalent to probation.

Davidson’s most recent conviction could return him to federal prison for violating the terms of his release — with his freedom hinging on the outcome of his appeal.

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

In 1990, Howard, 31, was shot in the head at point-blank range while sitting in his car parked in a grocery store lot. At the time, Howard was conducting an undercover cocaine buy for the federal Central New York Drug Enforcement Task Force when he was approached by two men.

The shooter, 16-year-old Robert Lawrence, said Davidson handed him the gun used to kill Howard, testifying Davidson masterminded a robbery of the $42,000 the police officer had to purchase drugs. Like Davidson, Lawrence received a life sentence without parole — which was reversed in 2012 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such sentences for minors unconstitutional.

Lawrence was released on parole in 2020. The Syracuse Police Department has since created the Wallie Howard Medal, an award in honor of Howard who at the time was the first Syracuse officer killed in the line of duty since 1929.

Davidson was released from prison Jan. 20, 2021 — the last day of Trump’s presidency — after his Trump-connected attorneys successfully lobbied the former president directly to commute his sentence.

The move followed two failed petitions for clemency in 2013 and 2017. Trump’s decision sparked outrage at the time, with prosecutor Jeff Duncan telling The New York Times he was not notified of the decision to commute Davidson’s sentence.

“If you ask me for a list of people who nobody should give a presidential commutation to Davidson would pretty much be at the top of the list,” Duncan told the newspaper in 2021.

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