Loyd won’t face trial in ’20 for cop’s death

Accused of shooting Orlando officer in 2017

Markeith Loyd will not face trial this year in the 2017 shooting of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton, a judge said at a Tuesday hearing. Loyd’s trial, which was scheduled to start in May, was postponed in March due to concerns over COVID-19.

“This case is not going to be tried this year,” Circuit Judge Leticia Marques said during a hearing at the Orange County Courthouse.

“I did my best to get it done, but it’s not going to be done this year.”

The Ninth Judicial Circuit announced Monday that jury trials in Orange and Osceola counties would resume in October after improving public health conditions, but Marques said Loyd’s case would not be tried before spring 2021.

Loyd, 44, faces the possibility of the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree murder in Clayton’s killing.

Authorities say he fatally shot

Clayton on Jan. 9, 2017, at a Walmart on Princeton Street after she tried to arrest him for murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon in December 2016.

Loyd's attorney Terence Lenamon said Tuesday his expert has analyzed a copy of a video showing the encounter between his client and Clayton that was recorded by Walmart cameras but would like to see the original video. Prosecutors, though, said a Walmart attorney told them the original video no longer exists.

“How can that not exist when we're in a trial?” Loyd asked during an outburst. “They're destroying (expletive).”

After a massive manhunt, Loyd was arrested outside an abandoned house on Lescot Lane in Carver shores. Officers beat him severely during his arrest, causing Loyd to lose an eye, but were cleared by an internal investigation and a probe by the 18th Circuit State Attorney's Office.

Loyd was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder last year for fatally shooting Dixon and her unborn child, but he avoided the death penalty after jurors recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Police said Loyd shot Dixon and her brother as they were walking back into their house after an argument. Loyd's defense attorneys argued Dixon's brother attacked Loyd first, leading to a tussle that ended with a gun going off and hitting Stewart.

Loyd said he thought Dixon had picked up a gun he dropped in the fight and just kept shooting at her after going into “warrior mode.” He fired eight times, prosecutors said.