Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
When shade dixon spoke these words on a facebook live, she was simply making som light- hearted jokes.
What she couldn’t have known was that her dark prediction would ring true very very soon.and in the most tragic way.
This is Markeith loyd his 41 year old in this footage from 2017 , he’s just been apprehended by orlando police after a massiv manhunt that ended an officers finding him outside an abandoned house.
While he waits about 25 minutes for detectives to arrive he keeps asking for his handcuffs to be loosened but nobody is in a hurry to help him.
Multiple officers hover outside clearly bintimidating the suspect.
Markeith expects his complaints to be met with sympathy and proer treatment in spite of the estrecme circumstances thathave led to this interrogation .
Markeith body languae indicates physical discomfort ,the longer he remains in phyiscal discomfort the mor his mental state will be worn down .
At this point markeith has remained relatively respectful and the officer is reciprocating by calling him sir repeatedly.this plus his assurances that medical help is coming or simple technique to earn trust from the suspect.
As markeith continues to wait, the door is left open and various officers and deputies come by to look at the suspectHowever , threating him as an object of curiousity or scorn is like counterproductive at this point.
The animal at the zoo effect is a dehumanizing tactic, which may work counter to the purposes of the interrogation later .
A lot of people have commented on this footage that the officers probably could have loosened the cuffs but chose not to deliberately.
For one : this could serve to establish physical and psychological dominance , but there’s another far more personal reason ….
You’ll soon see what that is.
This is higly unusual behavior for officers to display before questioning a suspect , generally they try to build rapport and create a false sense of helpfulness to the suspect .
To get them to be more apt to cooperate, here it appears they have no desire to do so with him and they intentionally trying to make this experience as unpleasant as possible for him.
After a while markeith gets fed up with the handcuffs.
Markeith is obviously agitated enoug to act out defiantly refusing to listen to orders this rerturn to a confrontational aspect is once again altering the state for the interrogation to come .
This is a fascinating change in the dynamic between prisoners and keeper
Tensions are high and after waiting a few minutes in silence markeith start asking who is in charge here whichis an attempt to regain the control of the situation by going to the top.
This method almost always fails i detention condition such as as this one .
Soon two men walk in the room
This is the start of the baseline process,wherein the interrogator starts to get an idea of the suspects demeanor and reactions when answering simple questions.This will later be used to help discern untruhful answers.
The dectectives finally addressed the suspect’s handcuffs ,as it seems obvious that his focus will remain on the pain he is in ,until it is dealt with making the interrogation more difficult for them.
They appear to loosen the handcuffs but still don’t remove them.
This time when markeith brings up the cuffs one interrogator is attentive and helpful,sending the message that he cares about markeith well -being ,this is magified when the cuffs are finally lossened a bit .
There are uppwards of four officers in the interigation room.
The door is open and more officers are standing in view in the hallway which is also unusual .
Generally only one to tow officers are in the room for an interrogation leaving an interrogation door open is also rarely see.
Loosing markeith’s cuffs and wiping his face isdoen with the purpose to get him to focus on the case instead of the handcuffs and injuries and blood on his face.
This actions could also be a way to exert control and dominance over him as he is unable to wipe his own face.
And needs to rely on them to do so.
Markeith is in bad shape with blood all over his face , he’ll explain the reason for this shortly. but first -the interrogation begins .
Markeith is read his miranda writes and the interrogators that¨s he understand them before proceeding .the door is still open when the officers mirandize him with officers still standing watching from the hall .
Generally the door is closed to give the suspect a feeling of privacy and so there are lessdistractions from the interrogation.
The technique that will primarly be used her is the read interrogation method.Though there some hints of the UK originated peace method eatly on as well.
Detectives begin with the read technique of positive confrontation by saying
” you know why you’re here tonight”
This statement isn’t aggressively delivered but is presented as an assumption of guilt toward the suspect ,they speak to him in a neutral almost friendly tone, so as not to discourage him from speaking.
If this method doesn’t work the officers will likely move on to a more confrontational demeanor.
Officers ask him next where he was today in order to begin to establish a timeline and get them talking.once they get a suspect talking, it’s easier to keep them talking.
While s positive confrontation can often make suspects feel backed into a corner
markeith is deflecting this by acting oblivious engaging in denial and claiming fabrication stories against him.
Sade is 22 year old , Sade dixon a mother of two and markeith’s former girlfriend.
They met on facebook sometimes after he was realease from prison 2004.
Despite their 17 year age difference.
but then they got into a fight , shade was pregnant in fact just a few days before they argument she and markeith had laught and smiled with one another at a songogram appointment.
Markeith seemed excited to raise this child and support his girlfriend as they started a family toghether.But under the surver there were a few thing he wasn’t happ about …. Assured we’re going to dive way deeper ino the bizzare thoughts and behavior markeith started to exhibit
But for now wht you need to know is that the relationship started to cruble primarlily because of one big thing – TRUST. The pairs ‘r romance would reach its braking point and december 2016 , at this time shade was about 12 vweeks pregnant,
On the 10th shade move back into her parents home not saying saying much about the falling out with markeith.but she did reveal that he had b bitten he during a figh, her family had to take her to a dotctor for a tet schot
3 days later on the 13th shade is at the home, around 9:00 p.m.
when markeith shows up ans he goes outside to talk with him, a argiment ensues.
With sade’s brother Ronald coming outside an argument ensues with Sade’s brother Ronald coming out in some point to intervene.
But things quickly sprialed out. shade’s famliy heard gunshots and came outside to find Shade and Ronald lying on the ground and markeith running thowards his car.
Sade received wounds that was fatal , she was shot eight times losing not only her life but the life or the unborn child that she was carrying.
Miraculously Ronald survived which meant he lieved to tell the of that horrific shooting and oyu’ll see when we get to the trial that the only two survivving witnesses to see what accured that night , markeith and Ronald tell very different version.
So Marketeith went on the run the news was spreading the story of the shooting
which brings to hom sitting in the interrogation to him siting in the interrogation room insisting to the officers that narrtive the meda had been cicrulate is a complete lie.
The interrogator takes a clarification approach, this suggestive of the account par of the peace interrogation- the peace interrogation method is a less confrontational interview and the read technicque.
The method stands for preparation and planning engage and aucount closure
And -evaluation peace under the peace method investigators allows the suspect to tell his or hers story without interruption .
Before presenting the suspect with any inconsistencies or contradictions between the story and other evidence.Markeith’s body language during the interrogation is very closed off not only he hunched over
But he is also avoiding eye contact ny keeping his gase on the table or the wall
He’s in a defensive position almost as if he’s trying t protect himself.
The officer is trying to gte markeith to talk by presenting the conversation as an opportunity of him to simply explaine the real story,or clary the facts to clear up and lies in the media.
He shifts back to the read technique here, step three ,trying to minimize suspect denials.
Read step one ,one positive confrontaiton involves advising the suspect that evidence has led the police to them and offering an opportunity to explain why the offence took place.
That’s what we’re seeing here.
Piece two and three are engage and explain ,establishing rapport and acount which again is obtaining a full account of events from the subject before asking questions.
For step two interviewer should use active listening to estblish a rapport with the suspect, taking the time to explain the background goals and expectations of the interroragation.
While encouraging the individual to speak up with any of their own relevant comments the officers istrying to build a repport with markeith by speaking slang to him and offering the idea of mutual respect.
Which is often a big deal on the streets ,the officer is trying to ber relatable to the suspect to gain his trust.the detectives tell him this is his hisopportunity to speak ,making it seem like it’s in his best interest to do so.
This is almost never the case, suspect are always better off not saying anything and gettingan attorney, even when innocent of any crimes, some people think asking for an attorney makes them look guilty, this may be how it appears , but it always the smartet descision.
The officers now use both minimizing techniques and offering him theories of justificantion for his action, this is another implementation of the read technique and makes it seem like they understand why he reacted the way he did.
He broke up with sade because she was smoking . he told her to stop because she was pregnant.
The officer throws out the suggestiong of self- defensse, to try to see if that will elicit a confession, this is the theme development step and the read method where they begin formulating a defense or justification for the suspect so they will more readily admit to crime thinking they have a defense.
The interrogator goe to wards read step 4, trying to get the suspect to acknoledge the crime.the officer said ” had to do ” continuing this them of self -defense and implying his action were justifiable .
You’ll se shortly that the authorities have already done their research on markeith’s personlaity is displayed through his social media.
So they are now going to suggest that not cooperating undermines his manhood.
You can see the close proximity the officers are sitting to the suspect, and how they have him essentially cornered in the room by the way the’re seatted surrounding him.
We’re reverting back to piece step three reaffirming the details of the account of the criminal behavior.
This is a loaded question it presumes that markeith shot both sade and her brother and so he needs to be very careful answering it is it would be easy to get trapped into affirming he committed the crime.Markeith seems to catch on to this though
The suspect has invoked his right to an attorney and at this point the interview should have stopped until his lawyer arrived, any statements he made after stating he wants an attorney would potentially be inadmissible if he voluntarily begin speaking again the best approach is tore-mirandize him to clarify he is again waving his right after invoking them.
The interrogator refers to the grieving family in an attempt to play the morality and conscience cards on the suspect,
The police officer the detective mentioned is lieutenant Deborah clayton 42, this brings us to the second half of markeith interrogation.
If you were wondering why the tension between markeith and law enforcement have been especially high well…it’s alla bout to become crystal clear.
After markeith fled the scene of Sade and Robind’s shooting police were working anxiously to track him down but for a long time they had no luck . Markeith had somehow managed to slip out of their grasp and for all they knew he could be. anywhere at this point
Christmas comes and goes , the holiday only a reminder to sade’s loved ones of the happy times there were excited to spent with her but now will never have the chance to.
January 6th 2017 at around 6:45 a.m ,markeith walks into a local wallmart while inside he approaches a plane closed loss prevention officer and asks if the store has a restroom other than the one at the front of the store.
This was a red flag for the officer as he suspected markeith might be trying to conceal something in the bathroom.
More than that he observed that markeith seemed to be tiptoeing and acting secretive ,for someone on the run form the law like Markeith it seems pretty risky to how your face in such a public and busy store.
But maybe he was just desperate, running out of supplies,maybe he figured that such an early morning visit would be safe , that he could go in and get out without any trouble.
What he didn’t bet on however ,was orlando police Lieutenant Debra clayton entering the store just 15 after he did . as both parties did their shopping they actually crossed paths a few times
And then at 7 :11 a.m the fugitive and the lawoman were actually a in the same checkout line , seperated only by two customers.before markeith chose to leave this line to go another to complete his transaction
Up to this point nobody seemed to have any idea of markeith identity , although he must have been nervous to be so close to an officer. clayton finished paying for her gorceries and walked out the store and markeith felt relief. but this was just the calm before the storm….
But another women in the store had noticed that there were no cashier working one of the lines. so she went to customer service to get an employee a they two return she notices that a man since started waiting in that very line .
And she walks up to politely explain that she had been there first bat as soon as she lays eyes on Markeith face her puls began to race, she recognizes his true identity .
Coincidentally her coujsin had apparently been married to markeith and althoug she herself hadn’t spoken to the man before she knows exactly who he is.
Not only did she have that personal connection with markeith, having seeing him through facebook pictures and videos but by this point he had also been publicly named as a suspect n sade’s murder and a news release had listed him as armed and dangerouse.
Sade’s parents hadeven hosted a press conference outside their home to beg the community for help finding their daughter’s killer.
As the heroing realization dawns upon the woman she snaps her head back down saying to herself ” Oh shit , that’s him” The lady tried to keep calm while exiting the store.
But as soon as she was out the door she spotted lieutenant clayton and ran towards her where she still putting her grcceries into he car.
The women frantically alerted debra, totally gaught offguard but tetermined to spring into action clayton radioed in for back, as makeith made his way out of the Wamlart.
When the next about 10 seconds ,within the next about 10 second other shoppers were ruunning and ducking for cover , what we know about what happened here comes from multiple witness accounts.
They say calayton approached markeith as he living the store and told him to stopp and get on the grown they claimed Markeith went like he was going to run,
And turned around and pulled pulled his gun out ,clayton made one final
Radio transmission” foot pursuit! foot pursuit”.
And then pfficers on the other end heard thee gunshot followed by complete silence.
But one minute later they received a call tha an officer was down.one wallmart employee claims to have witnessed the entire scene. she said she had just clocked out when she noticed the concerned shopper. approaching lieutnant clayton about markeith’s precence.
she could do nothing but watch as situation intensified in the blink of an eye. she says she found herself siting by clayton’s side and praying as she bled out on the ground.
from four gunshot wounds this employee allegees, at that markeith walked up tp clayton after she fell and shot her some more, even she laments he could have fled after landing a bullet in her head.
This witness later said;
” he wanted to finish her off.He just has hatred in his heart i ‘m sorry”
According to this women markeith calmy turned walked to his car ,startedit uo and took off as clayton lay taking her final breaths, additional officers arrived with 28 seconds.But it was too late , clayton was down and markeith was gone…..
Once it’s revelaed that markeith shot and killed a fellow officers makes sense. police forme a brotherhood ot sosterhood with each other and when one of them is shot the case is personal to them ,conversely cop killers are often looked up to on the streets and in prison.
The interrigetor returns to trying to get markeith acount of events as per piece step three. The officers proposed that the sergeant drew down on him first to get him discuss the shooting and give him a fals sence of justification for his actions.
markeith is trying to shift blame from himself ounder lieutenant clayton when he says that she should have waited for backup and she wasn’t being professional, he’s failing to take responsibility for his actions .
CPR was performed on the fallen officer and she was quickly transported to the hospital.
about 5 minutes later the Orange County sheriff’s officer captain sees a vehicle matching the description of markeith. and follow it into an apartment complex wher markeith allegedly steps out of the dark car and fires two shots towards the officer’s unmakred Ford Explore.
Nobody was harmed but 3 minutes later a man called 911 to report that a man believed to be markeith had carjacked him at gunpoint and then driven his vehicle through a fence .
10 minutes after that call clayton was pronounce dead.
After 17 years in service at the Orlando Police department her career came down to those pivotal few seconds where her life was tragically cut short far too soon.
Unfortunately before the Orlando DP had even had time to process their loved comrades passing
there would be yet another casualty in this hunt.
when just before 10: 00 a.m a motorcycle Deputy responding to the search for markeith was fatally struck by a van.
That morning 17 schools were place on lockdown as the chaos unfolded.
A new conference is held alerting the public of th deaths and the search for markeith ,one sheriff calls the day one of the worst in his career.
And the award for information leading to markeith arrest is incresade to 60. 000 dollars.
Authorities focus their search on an apartment complex called brookside, employing a haeavy force of police officers and even armed SWAT members.
Eventually they have to call it off and let residents back into their homes as Markeith is nowhere to be found.
It turns out that markeith was very active on his internet accounts often sharing updates of hid daily life .
including a facebook live video in november with shade where the couple rubbed her pregnant belly and talket about the baby kicking.
the pair posted lots of videos together ,documenting trips to the mall OBGYN visits or home cooking sessions.
but the inflammatory statuses that the detectives are most interesting in include one from two weeks before shade’s death.When Markeith posted goals to be on America’s most wanted.
He also shared another update.
The couple also broadcast at a facebook live stream where shade recorded as they two were pulled ocwe in a traffic stop.Markeit was let go with a warning, but he and shade wentwent on to make jokes about killing the officer.
just an interesting side note markeith then 19 year old son was actually behandsbars at this time and during a visit rwith his mother he found out about his dad’s situation
I said to see that the boy was already going down a similarly bad path in life.
Meanwhile after another fruitless search in the FBI most watned twitte account posting markeith photo for the world to see , the reward in this case was raised to a 100,000 dollars which is the biggest reaerd crime line ever received.
3 people are arrested in connection with the search believed to be accomplice who helped markeith in some way or no information about his whereabouts.
police scour more than a 100 location and expand the searchto a neighboring county where markeith has family.they start receiving tips that he may have shaved his head and so they released a digitally altered piccture of him to cover all their bases .
On 17th markeith is added to US marshall’s 15 most wanted list , everyone can feel that thuis hunt is reaching a climax and it is later that very same evening they find him .
It wasn’t tip that led investigators to markeith though, it was his phone, they were able to trace him through pings when he texted people.
he’s all alone at an abandoned house in carver shores , police aren’t sure how lon he was hiding out there.
when they first arrive markeith tries to sneak out through a sliding glass door but is met with Orlando police officers.
he was observed dropping two handgunds from the window as commandedby law enforcement.He then complied with further instructions and crawled on his stomach from the entry door to a waiting officers where he was placed under arrest .
Loyd was wearing an american body armor level 3A bulllet resistant west at the time of his arrest .
Raided to stop all handgun ammunition commonly used by law enforcement.A helicopter captured this harrowing footage of those tense moments.
Even though officers had a million things on their mind at this time there was one specific thing to do during this long awaited arrest .
Orlando police chief John Mina explained that this is a traition in law inforcement that goes back many years and putting the handcuffs of a fallen officer on the criminal they were killed trying to catch . Is significant to the family as well as the colleagues of the deceased officers
Many people have inferred that this is one of the reasons why the officers around markeith before and during his interrogation seemed so reluctant to loose his cuffs.
And it’s not hard to see why that would be exactly the case.
However, did law enforcement let their annger over debra’s death go too far?
Markeith claims that the officers beat him up during the arrest , in the helicopter video we can see what appears to be an officers kicking markeith in the head while he’s on the ground before the video rapidly pans away.
The way markeith may have been treated by police when he was arrested could have to contributed his unwillingness to cooperate with the detectives .
when he is being questioned, we can also observe in the interrogation footage how incredibly roughed up markeith is .
And he repeatedly brings up the fact that he doesn’t want to cooperate with the police after they allegedely beat him up .
They’re playing the guilty conscience / morality card again – the death of the unborn child.his trying to evoke remorse for markeith in order to get a clear admission of guilt .
The officers again says ” we need to know if you did what hyou had to do” in reference or shooting the sergeant, he’s trying to once again get markeith to talk by making it seem like he had justificiation in rality even if the sergeant pulled a gun on him first or threatened him.
She had cause to do so and him shooting her in this instance has no legal defense, Florida statute section 776.051.provides the law use of force in ressisting arrest .
The interrogator shift back to read step two -theme develepement . to here shiftning the blame away from the suspect directly in the hopes that this will encourage him to talk.
Again markeith inwokes his right to an attorney, the police continune to question him depsite his unequicoval invocation the statements he makes are at risk of being inadmissible.
The interrigator is not getting answers to his questions, all of the questions so far are leading questions the suspect towards a give answer that the interrogators want to hear.
when the interrogator ask “why did you choose to shoot instead of run” , this is a great question because it goes to intent to commit the crime and would play a meaningful role in whether the crime is viewed as premeditated as opposed to something lesser like manslaughter.
The interrogator starts to put pressure on markeith in a way that would make him feel like he doesn’t speak up for himself and tell his version of the story then someone else will fill in the holes for him . He’s still deep in the read technique , markeith dosen’t budge.
Markeith asking for medical attention , it doesn’t appear that the interrogator is actually motioning to any real people back there he is just faking it to appease markeith.
The officers tries once again to establish trust and a timeline here and gives the suspect to start from the beginning to tell them what happened in his own words.
The officers display their true disdain for the suspect here and clearly aren’t concerned whatsovever about his physical well- being .this is not suprising knowing hi shot one o f their own and also because the injures were sustained while being arrested by their colleagues.
the pushy and straight forward aproach got a rise out of markeith but will it get detectives ant closer to their goal?In this case it seems that provoking makeith has only caused him to shut down completely.The interrogator reverts back, to reed step one.
the interrogator continues to refere to treating the suspect with respect, this is a falsehood as there is probably no medical support coming at this point .
The appeal is to respect manhood to gain the trust of the suspect ,however as you see this backfire shortly.
Markeith keeps emphasizing how he is under duress . Duress is defined as the act of using forced coercion, threats or psychological pressure to get someone to act against their wishes.
apparently a person acting under duress is not seen as acting of their own free will and so may be treated accordignly in court procedeedings.
by saying this markeith is trying to throw the validity of the interrogation into question ,though given the cameras recording and the suspect and the interrogators, there is technically no duress here in a legal sense.
This raises an interesting question though ,wathching this footage and knowing the context of what markeith has done doesn’t exactly make you sympathetic to him .
but if everyone is truly innocent until proven guilty then do you think all criminals who have been badly beaten or injured should be given medical attention before any questioning.
Markeith tactis so far haven’t been working and so the interrigators will now try to rile markeith up.
Leaning in towards the suspect makes the contact more intimate and less avoidable by closing the distance.
Although attacking markeith’s character has spurred him to talk and defend himself, h e still not giving the information they’re looking for.
he instead claimes that he was going to let sade’s father turn him in, so that her two young boys ages 2 and eight could get the reward money.
Markeih clearly has experience with law enforcement and on some level understand the tactics the officers are using.
He appears to know that talking to them is not in his best interest,neither party has respect for the other nor does either want to help the other in any way.
The interrogator is slipping into read step five.- procurement of the subject’s attention . this step comes into play when a suspect becomes distracted or withdrawn.
Often by ruminating on their potential punishment and start to tune out instead of focusing their attention on the interrogators desired topic.
” he’s trying to keep makeith receptive to the conversation”
Markeith then gets quiet,but offers no emotional raction of note,interestingly the interrogator does not really pose the alternative use in read.-step 7.presenting an alternative question.
This would entail presenting two choices for why the crime was committed.
” both assuming his guilt ,but one being more justifiable and understandable”
Many suspects believe that latching on to the morally acceptable answer will result in a less harsh punishment, but the truth is that both options are incriminating .
Some researchers have posited that the moment an interrogation turns into an argument,it fails. after being granted access to over thousand hours of interrogation tapes.
One team asserted;
“you need to remember what your purpose in that room is , you’r seeking information, your not there to speak on behalf of the victims or the police , you might feel better for getting angry but down the road is retribution, if you find yourself having a go with someone ,ask yourself what am i achieving by this , because they will stop talking to you “
This is an interesting perspective to keep in mind as Markeith interrogation goes on.As interrogation goes on Markeith starts rocking back and forth slightly, this is a self – soothing behavior that sometimes comes out during extremely stressful situation.
Markeith puttinghis face down on the table,shows thathe is futher disengaging from the questioning.
by questioning his character in his manhood the officer thinks he can get him to talk to defend his manhood,however it doesn’t seem to work on this suspect .they call him a punk and a b*tch they likely chose those words deliberately.
calling someone a punk or ” b*tch in prison is seen as a huge insult and a sign of disrespect.
They trying to push him into defending his manliness, this is another read technique called; behavior provoking questioning, they’re trying to get a resopnse by challenging him and angering him.
Anger will often get suspects to blurt out in admission of key facts, the interrogators aren’t getting the response they want out of Markeith, so they continue to badger and insult him.
The other interrogator jumps back in with the same goal trying to evoke a reaction and he almost succeeds at this point but markeith quickly stifles it.
The interrogator is now shifting from personal attacks on markeith-to focusing on the families of the deceased.
Trying to evoke a sympathetic reaction so that markeith will talk about the crimes.
It’s unclear which insult specifically triggered markeith to become confrontational here but the interrogator will latch onto this opportunity and start plugging into it to evoke more from markeith if possible .
He is still making efforts to Garner some reaction out of Markeith who is proven a tough nut to crack so far.
Meanwhile the other interrogator is going to jump back in , this time with a less intense demeanor, this isn’t quite a good cop bad cop scenario , but he’s trying a very slightly softer approach and yet this evokes a brief anger response.
The officers is linikg his unwillingness to talk man to man to him being a punk and a b*tch to try to once again invoke behavior and get him to talk to prove the officer wrong and that he is a real man , this approach isn’t working .
Markeith seems to have no real concern for anything they’re saying and still seems focused on his medical needs and the fact that the cops allegedly roughed him up upon arrest
By sharing some information about himself ,the detective is trying to relate to markeith and build rapport so that markeith will be more likely to cooperate with the questioning .
The interrogator confronts markeith with his acts suggesting he went from defensive actions to unjustified actions, the witness who sat beside Debra in her last moments would later claim that it looked like markeith was trying to unload his gun on her and get rid of her like it was something personal.
She alleges that markeith continued to shoot the officer while she was down and that she could only watch as debra’s body jumped off the ground from the bullets.
So in truth all the acts were unjustified, the line the interrogator is trying to get markeith to justify or explain his account of events.
Here the interrogatiors turned markeith’s frustration at his niece being jailed and harassed back on himself ,telling him that his own actions led to her being detained and questioned .They’re trying to change the theme of the interrogation
the interrogaior uses the opportunity of markeith’s angry outburst to confront him with other sources of evidence,such as phone records.
The interrogator knows markeith cares about the people close to him, and tries to provoke him by suggesting that if markeith disagrees with what they’re saying then he is essentially calling those people liers.
Establishing location and opportunity isn’t the most important goal at this stage but it will let the DA paint a better picture of the course of events for trial
Markeith is clearly getting impatient and frustrated here but he has only ordered to sit again adding to his feeling of powerlessness as he has no choice but to comply.
The interrogator gives his partner a look and a shrug hard to read this but it could suggest that they feel they are making no progress we’ll watch for a change in tactics.
The interrogator starts to berate and lecture markeith , i don’t think there’s a tactic at work here i think the earlier look they exchanged was an expression of frustration.
Which is now being verbalized in one last effort -to get the suspect to talk.
20:36,this is going to be interview with markeith loyd in reference to sade dixon’s and her unborn child’s death.
His interview was conducted at the Orlando police departement headquarters ,the time right now is going to be 8:39.
making the suspect open their eyes to look at a picture of one of one of the victims is another emotional reaction tactic interrogators will use.
The officers in the interview leaves the interview room in frustration . when all the different tactics they’ve tried get them no where with markeith. This is not a case that a confession is necessary evidence,they have eye witness accounts of both shooting
And using the read method the interrogators tried two major themes ,first was appealing to his manhood.
and his desire to be legendary.
This had relatively little impact , though surrounding to his credibility did evoke some reactions
The other theme attempted was to play on his concept of remorse
however there was even less sucess here.
More officialscome in to take photos of Markeith,cutting his shirt off and documenting his injuries.
after a little while medical assistance arrives for Markeith as well.Markeith was treated at a medical center for about 20 hours, before being taken to Orange coungy Jail
And then on January 19th, bright and early, he had his first court appearance . on charges related to sade’s death that is.
As far as legal trouble goes ,this was far from Markeith first rodeo.Markeith did have a history of criminal activity goingback two decades.
Markeith got out of jail in 2014, and in 2015 ,he got married but within 6 months of the wedding he faced domestic violence charges against his wife, although they were dismissed.
All in all ,records show that Markeith has been arrested 20 times since 1994.But despite all the experience Markeith had being in the courtroom,he was quick to make a bad impression on officials.
During the first appearance for sade’s case Markeith started out by declaring that he will be defending himself in court.
choosing to represent himself was a bold choice.Markeith may have had some grandiose traits believing that he was so superior that he could do better than a lawyer.
He may have enjoyed the feeling of power as well as the attention, on the other hand,it’s also possible that Markeith had such a mistrust and authority that he felt he couldn’t rely on a lawyer to be on his side .
It’s clear that nobody really thinks this is a good idea, but as the conversation goes on markeith gets fed up and start interrupting, cursing at the judge, repeatedly
Markeith goes on an angry rant about the fact that others were arrested in connection to his search which he feels was unfair because he says he was doing everything himself.
it appears that it’s important to Markeith to make it clear that no one helped him while he was on the run,this may have been an egotistical motivation as he wanted to take all the credit that he did everything by himself
alternatively he may have wanted to protect his family or friends from gettiing in further trouble, while psychopaths are unable to form emotional connections to others , socioapaths may form some meaningful relationships.
Now the three people in question hereare actually Markeith former manager at a place called Texas fried chicken who was allege to have given Markeith food.
Markeith niece Lakensha smith -loyd who is believed to have picked up money for him.
and one of Markeith ex-girlfriends named Jamise who was thought to have collected rent money from a women at Markeith apartment and planned to pass it on to him.
Some have called these arrests and a question wondering if they were truly justified or if these people were unfairly detained and employed to lure Markeith out of hiding.
which has just been another popular talking point in this convoluted case.
In his final note of the court appearance Markeith brings up his injuries and says there were no reason for the violence he endured.
Following Markeith claims that he was beaten by the officers apprehending him the Orlando police departement released the helicopter video you saw earlier ,which apprear to show one man kicking markeith during the arrest.
Police chief John Mina held a news conference to adress the content of the video,he says that officers were concerned that markeith couldhave been hiding something within his body armor because of the way he was struggling
As he crawled on the ground furthermre Mina asserted that Markeith didn’t comply when he was told to put his hands behindhis back.which was one of the reasons force was used.
It is reported that the officers kicked and punched him Loyd in the face and strucken numerous times with the muzzles of the rifles.
causingcuts to his face and bac l and a fractured eye socket which required surgery and ended up losing that eye as a result of the injuries the state attorney’s office determined that this actions met the definition of deadly force.
Or force which was likely to cause death or great bbbodily harm, all the same according to the Orlando Sentinel the state attorney’s office cited- Florida’s stand your ground law.Ultimately found that the use of force was lawful and justified.
Markeith soon made his where he was once again combative with the judge and for some bizarre reason he at first ignored her , denied he was Markeith Loyd and then started asking who she was.
Markeith likely felt very powerless in court , so trying to turn the tables on the Judges was his Way of exerting control , there is little that markeith can control in his life at this point except for his own words.
interrupting the judge or refusing to answer her question was his attempt to take charge of the situation.
that conversation was cetrainly less than friendly and unsuprisingly a third court appeareance didn’t fo much smoother.
Markeith wore a bandage around his head and left eye, and he cursed at the judge again .
” and this is what happened to me, fuck you”.
Nonetheless, a judge eventually ruled that markeith was competent to represent himself.
fast foward to february 15 , 2017 , and markeith is formely indicted on charges related to sade and Debra’s death.
Despite Markeith insistence that he wanted to represent himself thus far, he suddenly declared that he wanted Florida’s highest paid capital litigation lawyer.
Terence Lenamon to represent him in his murder cases a wish, which was eventually granted and this brings us to the the second half of today’s story -the murder trial .
the information revealed in court might just be the most intriguing part of the entire case.
First of all reports says that in the months leading up to the trial Markeith went on a rampage in the Orange county jail violently ripping phones off the wall , breaking glass and destroying a TV , a iPad, authorities say they couldn’t get close enough to even use pepper spray.
He apparently shouted about how he was the son of god, while causing thousands of dollars in damage to the facility.
What’s more in videos of jail visits between markeith and his family , Markeith appears to make light of his dire situation .
He may have been trying to put on a front for friends and family ,who came and visit him in jail in order to protect his image, he also seems to make fun of sade .
Finally , 2019 ,the trial concerning the Sade dixon case began .
During his testimony Markeith revealed details about his short- lived but turbulent relationship with the young women and his words, are extremely telling.
After getting out of prison Markeith was working 4 jobs and he went from being homeless to being able to rent a place of his own.
soon he was excited to include Sade in his new life. but he says when they started talking he asked her what else you got to offer ?what’ s your credit score?
you see Markeith had some very strict guidelines of what he wanted his partner to be like.
The first time he pick Sade up to hang out in person after chatting online, he had some distinct opinions on her clothing choice.
we can see alreadythat markeith has a tendecy to think he knows what’s best for tis romantic partners. nonetheless the relationship was budding and Markeith says when they were about to have intercourse she told him not to use protection from that point their relationship progressed quickly and they started to move in.
He started taking her to school during the days and working his delivery job at nights.but he claimed Sade started to think he was messing atound with other women .while she was in class.
Therefore Markeith started sleeping in the car in the parking lot when Sade was in class ,just form these anecdotes alone it is clear to see that their relationship was toxic .
and built on a very shaky foundation from the very start.Markeith says they soon found out that Sade was pregnant and they even went live on face book to show friends their sonogram appointment .but then Markeith calls attention to something really interesting.
Markeith explains that since he’s a convicted felon he can’t adopt a child and he really wanted a baby to raise even if it potentially wasn’t his.
his fixation on cotronlling her behavior only grew stronger,now one of his requests was understandable, he didn’t want her to smoke weed while pregnant. Markeith spoke about why he started feeling especially adverse to drug use.
Markeith began to suspect more and more that Sade was smoking marijuana during her pregnancy.which became one of his biggest concerns .But Markeith ‘s worries about Sade’s lifestyle didn’t stop at drugs.
He also started instructing Sade not to eat meat, he supposedly hadn’t consumed any himself in 10 years ,saying that he doesn’t believe in killing God’s creations.
Markeith even says he received signs from God that he shouldn’t eat meat
It’a unclear if markeith is describing a hallucination in which he was inside a mountain or whether he is attempting to describe a real situation. he ecxperience hallucinations can be caused by a health disorderBut they can also occur as a result of drug use.
Markeith says he feels like he gets signs from God all the time, Markeith unique moral system also presented itself in more questionabl ways.
when Sade misled Markeith, he grabbed her by the neck and pusched her down in anger later on though he felt like what he did was wrong.
he cut his long dreadlocks as a show of seöf- punishment, things continued to go downhill and eventually the relationship soured to the point where Markeith descided he wasn’t too sure of things were going to work out with Sade .
And Markeith even admitted on cross -examination that he had only heard this second hand from Sade .
Infact Markeith didn’t just have a rough idea what he was going to do to keep the baby he had a whole plane laid out,markeith explained ,that he cheated on Sade with one of his ex once.and long story short -Markeith plan to raise Sade’s child with this ex girlfriends as a plan B.
Seems that Markeith had one foot in and one foot out of the relationship with Sade and this infidelity would end up being one of the last straws in the crumbling relationship.
But one of the emost heartbreaking parts of this footage is when markeith talks about Sade’s children, he describes a trip they all took together to a lake ,shortly before Sade’s death.
But Markeith’s anger grew because he felt like Sade was distracted from outing with their kids and he claims it was because she wanted to go smoke pot with firends.
This started an angryh back and forth of texts about the lack of trust in the relationship, Sade ended things on an amicable note though after Markeith dropped her off Sade wasn’t responding to him for a while.
And so he sent her some long -winded texts thelling her she could do whatever she wanted with her life but he wanted her to keep the health of the baby in mind.
And then on december 13 ,2017 about an hour before the shooting happened Sade responded Markeith’s messages saying ;
” don’t expect no baby”
He interpreted this , she was getting an abortion, Sade tected Markeith screenshots of hid facebook with another girl and called out that he went on live from a strip club with other girls within the two days after they broke up.
Stephanie Dixon-Daniels looks at the bullet holes in her front door hours after her daughter’s killer, Markeith Loyd, was sentenced to life in prison.
And that’s when Markeith head over to Sade’s house and in this m urder trial right off the bat it become clear that their were two very different counts of what happened the night of her death up until a certain crucial point the opposing sides told a relatively similar story .
Sade and Markeith were in the midst of a heated confrontation ,the unborn child and accusations of infidelity being the main topics at hand.
At some point Markeith admitted that he had hooked up with his ex, they were speaking outside Sade’s home,but suddenly went back inside before reemerging and calling him to the side of the house.
It was then Markeith says that he realized she had retrieved a gun.
Taking it back ,he pulled out two guns of his own which he says he always carried after being robbed and told Sade to hand over her weapon, according to Markeith Sade did what he said and dropped it but instead bit instead of dropping it carefully off the side as he claims he instructed , he alleges she didn’t listen.
And instead extended her arm out front to drop the gun, which caused him to panic and he squeezed his trigger, te whole world screeched to halt as boths parties processed what he’ just done.however the weapon luckily didn’t fire, Markeith quickly retrieved Sade’s gun and put it in his pant’s pocket
which would seem like hopefully the end of an explosive situation , but then Sade’s brother Ronald stewart came outside to see what was going on, he had heard the commotion and wanted to diffuse the dramatic and increasingly dangerous confrontation .
Markeith says he tried to explain that Sade had started the altercation and they were fine on their own and didn’t need help , however , here’s where the two versions of the story diverge.
Markeith’s lawyer said that Sade taunted Markeith, by saying Ronald could beat him up.
” my brother can whip your ass .”
Markeith claims he turned his body to show Ronald that he had taken Sade’s gun and tucked it in his back pocket, but he alleges that Ronald took the opportunity to attack and a scuffle ensued as demonstrated in this clip.
Markeith says at some point Sade’s gun fell of his pants where he had stashed it and that he was scared for his life and afraid that Sade had picked up and rearmed herself .
while he fought Ronald and so Markeith went into what he calls warrior mode and just started shooting over and over again ,hitting Ronald in the chest and both thighs in the process
The prosecution however instead asserts that when Ronald came outside he then told the fighting pair to break it up and talk another day before he and Sade turned to go back inside and walked onto the porch.
however they say the door was locked and alleged that Markeith did the following .
The prodecution says the first round hit Ronald in the abdomen causing him falling down onto the porch. they say Markeith approached the porch firing ,hitting Sade several times before she fell as well.
Ronald himself testified in court that markeith was standing a little ways away from him and pull out the gun unprovoked while Sade was banging on the door trying to get inside.
He then says Markeith stepped over him and kept shooting Sade before turning his attention back to Ronald and shooting some more.
In a crucial query assistant state attorney Rick ridgeway , asked markeith how a bullet fragment struck the concrete under stewart if he wasn’t standing over him and shooting downward, Markeith couldn’t explain this.
Markeith then started towards his car but when Sade’s mother and other brother opened the door to see what was going on he fired additional shots towards them The prosecution highlighted this moment as follows in their opening statement.
Markeith argued that he only took those shots out of fear because he thought Sade’s family was a gun family.
Now markeith also testified about his time on the run and whether he’s being completely honest or not about his intentions, his words still give us an interesting idea of his head space.
Authoritites uncovered text messages sent from Markeith moments after the shooting, he texted Sade. the text message Markeith sent to Sade shortly after the shooting indicates that he was already trying to put the blame anywhere but on himself.
He’s trying to justify his actions , he claims that was a crucial typo in this text alleging he meant to say:
” hope you do make it !” instead of ” hope you don’t”.
Hours later he texted Sade ” you caused this!” Markeith says as he went on the run he saw the news reporting that he went to Sade’s house ,banged on her door ,gunned her down and when her brother came to help, he gunned him down to .
Which he says was a complete lie , so Markeith wanted to do something to set the story straight he called his niece and asked her to let people know that it was self- defense
he says he wanted the authorities to have the media retract the version of the story that mad him look bad and then he would turn himself in
In his mind this would be their way of proving they weren’t trying to kill him.Markeith says he was worried that someone took Sade’s gun off the crime scene to make it looked like he was the only one with a weapon.
Strangely his lawyer affirms that the gun left in the yard was not included in the probable cause affidavit for some reason .
Markeith says he realized the investigators weren’t going to set the story straight, so he sent his niece directly to talk to the news people.
In cross- examination Markeith continued to assert that he was the victim in this whole situation.
And so after hearing all sides of what happened in the murder of Sade dixon and her unborn child
A jury found markeith guilty of first-degree murder
killing of an unborn child
attempted first -degree murder, two counts felony
,and possesson of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Markeith had virtually no reaction which was quite the change of pace from his early explosive behavior in court, perhaps Markeith now knew that he needed to make the best impression on jurors as his life was now in their hands.
Now , the defense had one last shot, to convince at least one juror from everything that has happened in Markeith’s life that he should not get the death penalty.
Markeith’s mother testified on his behalf affirming that she would continue to love him no matter what , she spoke a little on Markeith’s childhood. At a young age Markeith witnesseda friend and a cousin being murdered
His attorney explained that in the area Markeith grew up in Pine Hills and Carver Shores,there are unfortunately two routes that a lot of people takes robbing.
or dealing drugs .
He says Markeith chose the latter , Markeith’s mother detailed the turbulent home life that Markeith was born into, she said Markeith’s father died when the boy was three or four of a drug overdos,
Markeith’s mother is asked where Markeith would hang out from ages of 10 to 13
She responded that he spent his time in the streets, and would take care of her other children while she was partying.
The violence he witnessed and the trauma he experienced as a child ,likely had a huge impact on his development, he may have felt like he didn’t have much control over his environment when he was young.
Which led him to have significant issues with control as he got older, here are some relationship red flags that may signal possible danger to come.
- History of violence.-if someone has a history of any kind of violence, it’s a varning sign that more violence could occur in the future.the level of violence often escalates over time.
- Impulsiv-people who are impulsive often act in the heat of the moment,based on high emotions, rather than logical thought, if someone is both impulsive and has access to weapon, especially a gun,this is a dicey combination.
- Engages in dangerouse behavior-if someone is frequently involved in reckless behavior stear clear, for example if you’re in a car with a partner who is speeding excessively but they refuse to slow down when you ask them to, this is a red flag.they’re showing a careless disregard for your safety,it also may be a scare tactic to show you that they are in control.
- Makes threats towards other people-pay attention to how your partner treats other people,if your partner frequently threatens or tries to intimidate others, this behavior could eventually be turned on you even if the threats are made in joking manner ,this behavior is still a red flag.
- Tells you what to wear-if your partner tries to tell you what you’re allowed to wear, this is a red flag for an abusive relationship,controlling what someone wears is one way that abusers exert power over their partner, abusers may also try to control who you can talk to, where you can go,or even what you’re allowed to eat .
- Relationship moves very quckly-abusive relationships often go from 0 to 100 with couples becoming very serious very fast possibly moving in together or getting married in a short amount of time.the abuser may be very charming in the beginning phase of the relationship and the partner likely feels flattered by all the attention.
Apparently Markeith got kidnapped once when he was 17 leading to some pretty severe injuries, the beating Markeith received in this instance reportedly lasted 4 hours which is reported to have contributed to his PTSD in paranoia.
Markeith’s mother also spoke on him going to a mental institute at age nine. she says he was almost killed in prison when someone stabbed him with an ice pick close to the heart.
Which added to his paranoia about people coming after him,one of markeith’s sisters also spoke up to say that markeith often acted as a protecter in their formative years when the children’s mother was absent.
That he would steal food and belongings for the other kids on the nights they had to go hungry and pay the lights and water bills to get them reconnected.
Two doctors testified during the trial, the first diagnosed markeith with grandiose and paranoid delusions, which he said was important because this can precipitate violence.
A clinical psychologist also took the stand to say that Markeith suffers from PTSD, possibly resulting from childhood beatings at the hands of his mother or the robberies he was the victim of during his time as a delivery man .
Markeith testified that one co-worker got murdered working this same delivery job ,those were the main points that were presented in a bid to make the jurors sympathetic to Markeith and spare his life.
And then finally it was time for them to decide , should Markeith spend his life in prison or be sentenced to death as punishment for the lives he took.
The judge advised everyone there would be no outburst when the verdict is read everyone holds their breath as the big moment takes place.
Dated this 23rd day of october , year 2019
Nearly tow years after the start of his first trial Markeith Loyd went to trial for the death of debra clayton,Markeith trial officially began in October 2021
following the opening statements Markeith made a shocking claim , shouting that he had attempted to turn himself in twice before walmart where Debra was shot and killed.
No evidence was presented to prove this claim, one of the main points of debate during the trial -who exactly fired the first shot. Markeith or Debra?
The defense claimed that markeith saw a gun in his face.as he left the store and thought he was going to be shot so he ran-
he says he didn’t know the gun belonged to a police officer at the time , he also claimed that he was not holding a gun at the time when Debra fired at him.
And that he only pulled his gun out and returned fire after he heard a shot ,claiming that he was defending his own life.
however it was made clear that even after an investigaton, it was unknown beyond a reasonable doubt who actually fired first.
During closing statements Markeith made sure his feelings where heard as he shouted
“they’re lying”
Yet on november 3rd he was found guilty of the first -degree murder of Lt.debra clayton, after his conviction prosecutors then filed to seek the death penalty
keeping in mind that Markeith had already avoided the death penalty previously.
the prosecutors argued that since markeith already had a life sentence without the possibility of parole that another life sentence would just quote”be another piece of paper in mr loyd’s file” and ” no punishment at all “
In december 2021 a jury of 12 ,the same jury who foundhim guilty of first -degree murder the month prior unanimously recommended that this time around, Markeith receive the death penalty on march 23rd 2022 about 5 years after Lt Debra clayton was shot and killed .
Markeith Loyd was sentenced to death.