Mina: Accused cop killer shot a helpless Clayton
Even as Orlando police Master Sgt. Debra Clayton lay defenseless on the ground, accused killer Markeith Loyd kept shooting, police Chief John Mina said Thursday.
Mina offered new details about Monday’s killing as the search for Loyd, now entering its fifth day, expanded into Polk County. Police in Haines City said late Thursday that he has relatives there.
Orlando officers found Loyd’s pants and shirt, which showed evidence that he had been shot in the chest in an exchange of gunfire with Clayton, Mina revealed. But Loyd was protected by a bulletproof vest.
Knowing he was wearing the vest is important for investigators trying to track him down, the chief said.
“He’s already shown that he’s willing to gun down a police officer and continue to shoot that police officer even after [she was] defenseless, so that information is vital when officers go arrest him because they want to go home to their families,” Mina
Police have searched nearly 100 places looking for Loyd and received more than 800 tips on Crimeline. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to his arrest.
Mina said private citizens should not try to find Loyd, 41, on their own.
“We don’t want people going out there and taking things into their own hands,” he said. “They won’t get the reward if they do that.”
Investigators have searched several homes in Lake County and gone door-to-door through an apartment complex in the Rosemont area of Orlando, but Loyd remains on the loose.
Detectives arrested three people this week who are accused of helping Loyd avoid arrest before Clayton was killed.
He had been wanted since Dec. 13, when investigators accused him of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, 24. Clayton was trying to capture him when she was slain.
Loyd’s niece, Lakensha Smith-Loyd, and his exgirlfriend, Jameis Slaughter, each faces a charge of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
Prosecutors argued that Smith-Loyd’s case was the more egregious, saying she is a flight risk who might know where Loyd is hiding. She is accused of trying to pick up money for her uncle, records show. A judge set her bail at $750,000.
Slaughter, prosecutors allege, was in constant con- tact with Loyd after Dixon’s death and drove to the Wal-Mart and circled the parking lot not long after Clayton was killed.
Detectives also arrested Loyd’s former employer, Zarghee Mayan, Tuesday on the same charge.
They say that he saw Loyd wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a pistol two days before Clayton was killed but didn’t con- tact law officers.
Barb Bergin, Central Florida Crimeline executive director, urged anyone who knows where Loyd is to come forward.
“You need to make the phone call,” she said. “Tell us where we can find Markeith Loyd now so we can end this.”
Memorials for Clayton and Orange County Deputy First Class Norman Lewis, who was killed in a crash on his motorcycle while responding to the manhunt Monday, have popped up across Orlando.
Visitations and funeral services for both are planned for this week.
A public viewing for Lewis was Thursday night at First Baptist Orlando on John Young Parkway. His funeral will be today at 11 a.m. at the same church.
Clayton’s visitation is today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Her funeral is 2 p.m. Saturday. Both also are at First Baptist Orlando.
Anyone who has information on Loyd’s whereabouts can call Crimeline at 407-423-8477.