ORLANDO, Fla. — Markeith Loyd, the man convicted of murdering an Orlando police officer in 2017, has been sentenced to death.
CBS affiliate WKMG confirmed Thursday morning that Judge Leticia Marques ruled Loyd should be executed for killing Lt. Debra Clayton.
The judge's decision comes after a jury recommended the death penalty back in December. Under Florida law, Marques could have disregarded the jury's recommendation and sentenced him to life in prison.
Loyd is already serving a life sentence for murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon. In fact, Clayton was trying to arrest him for that crime when prosecutors say Loyd shot her outside a Walmart in 2017.
Last year, the 12-person jury deliberated for about five hours over two days on whether Loyd should face the death penalty for Clayton’s killing, The Orlando Sentinel reported. In the end, the jurors and the judge have now all reached the same conclusion.
That conclusion comes a little less than a month after a dramatic Spencer hearing where an expert for Loyd's defense team was scheduled to evaluate his mental competence. During the hearing, Loyd became agitated and had an outburst in the courtroom.
A video clip previously shared by WKMG showed Loyd standing while surrounded by several uniform law enforcement officers. The audio did not immediately kick in, but when it did, Loyd could be heard saying "I'm leaving" as he pulled his arm away from an officer before exiting the courtroom.
The 46-year-old could be heard repeating the phrase several times while in a hallway off camera.
In December, during the penalty phase of the trial – before the jurors arrived at their recommendation – Loyd's family tried to help build the case against execution. Relatives recounted a troubled childhood, and a forensic neurologist even suggested Loyd may have suffered from brain damage at a younger age.