Orange County

Accused cop killer’s defense plan to claim insanity in Lt. Clayton murder trial

ORLANDO, Fla. — The legal team for accused cop killer Markeith Loyd plan to claim insanity during his trial for the murder of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

According to new documents, Loyd’s defense won’t deny he killed Clayton, but will claim he wasn’t of the right mindset when it happened.

Loyd is already serving a life sentence for murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon. He’s facing another trial for the murder of Lt. Clayton in 2017 when she tried to arrest him while he was on the run for Dixon’s murder.

READ MORE: Accused cop killer Markeith Loyd to use insanity defense in Lt. Clayton murder trial, documents show

On Monday, Loyd’s defense filed a “notice of intent to rely on insanity” as a defense in the case. A list of witnesses were also filed along with other supporting motions.

Loyd’s defense team recently claimed that Orlando police had an overwhelming bias against the defendant for the death of Clayton. They claimed it’s possible that Clayton fired first and that police were unable to look at the case objectively.

A status hearing in the case was held Tuesday morning. Another hearing will be held next week.

READ MORE: Markeith Loyd trial involving slain officer will not include talk of murdered ex-girlfriend, judge rules

Christopher Boyce, WFTV.com

Christopher Boyce joined WFTV in January of 2019.

Steve Barrett

Steve Barrett, WFTV.com

Reporter Steve Barrett returned to WFTV in mid-2017 after 18 months in the Twin Cities, where he worked as Vice President of Communications for an Artificial Intelligence software firm aligned with IBM.

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