For prosecutors, this is their second chance to seek death against a man already convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend. Markeith Demangzlo Loyd, 46, will die in prison for killing pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon, 24, but jurors decided he should get life without parole. Now he will stand trial in another death penalty case for shooting and killing Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton, 42. You can watch in the player above.
While on the run for killing Dixon, Loyd was spotted at an Orlando Walmart on Jan. 9, 2017. A customer told Clayton, who chased Loyd. Surveillance footage captured the tragic encounter.
“The suspect loops backward while simultaneously drawing a handgun from his waist and taking cover behind one of the concrete pillars,” stated documents. Clayton drew her gun in response, but Loyd allegedly opened fire three times, striking her in the hip. She fell. Loyd allegedly kept firing while she was on the ground, authorities said.
“The suspect now leaves Sergeant Clayton laying on her back and runs to a two-door vehicle parked in the adjacent row and casually leaves the area,” stated documents.
Orange County Deputy First Class Norman Lewis died in a motorcycle crash during the search for Loyd, though Loyd is not charged with this.
In the Dixon murder trial, Loyd testified that he was the victim in all this. He insisted that he killed her in self-defense, facing her and her brother. Prosecutors dismissed that assertion. Though Dixon, who was three months pregnant, pulled a gun on him, she had dropped it before he killed her. Ultimately, he had the opportunity to leave that Dec. 13, 2016 confrontation, but instead set out to kill her, prosecutors said.
Instead of accepting his role in instigating and taking this confrontation to fatal heights, Loyd took the stand in bewildering testimony about his values and his attitudes toward women he dated. Loyd testified that he lectured Dixon on what she wore, and said he asked her about her credit score.
The defense said in the penalty phrase that Loyd suffered through a childhood abuse from his father, racism, trouble in school, and limited life routes as a teenager. He developed a significant delusional disorder because of his life experiences.
[Booking photo via Orange County Jail]