Markeith Loyd’s murder trial begins today

Jury selection to be made in shooting death of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton

More than four years after authorities say Markeith Loyd shot and killed Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton and was captured following a massive manhunt, his first-degree murder trial in her killing will start today with jury selection.

It will be the second time that Loyd, 45, faces the possibility of being sentenced to death. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019 for killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon and her unborn child, but he avoided capital punishment after jurors recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors say Loyd gunned down Clayton Jan. 9, 2017, at a Walmart on Princeton Street after she tried to arrest him for killing Dixon in December 2016