Loyd has ‘delusional disorder,’ experts testify
Sesta testified.
Loyd was more likely to misinterpret information and think “I should defend myself and hurt you before you hurt me,” Sesta said.
During his trial, Loyd said on the witness stand he gunned down Dixon in self-defense after her brother Ronald Stewart attacked him.
Loyd testified he went to Dixon’s house the night of Dec. 13, 2016 to convince his ex-girlfriend not to get an abortion after they broke up. Dixon pulled a gun on him, which Loyd said he took away and stored with his two guns before Stewart came outside to check on them.
Loyd said Dixon’s brother attacked him, and one of his guns went off and hit Stewart. The convicted killer said he thought Dixon had picked up a gun he dropped in the fight and he went into “warrior mode,” shooting at her and family members who rushed outside to help.
But Stewart, who survived, testified he never attacked Loyd, and prosecutors argued Loyd shot the siblings as they walked back into their house after telling him to leave.
James Campbell, a clinical psychologist, testified Loyd had a “difficult childhood” and traumatic experiences that contributed to his PTSD, including being kidnapped at 16 by neighborhood adults and beaten for about four hours.
“All of this lead to a lot of trauma in his life and a lot of paranoia,” Campbell testified. “The delusions Mr. Loyd suffers from, which are mostly persecutory, those are intensifying or worsening his PTSD symptoms and certainly make functioning on a normal system more difficult for him.”
But Greg Prichard, a forensic psychologist who testified as a rebuttal witness for the state, said he