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Judge enters not guilty pleas for murder suspect Markeith Loyd

ORLANDO, Fla. — Murder suspect Markeith Loyd was arraigned Wednesday morning, a week after he asked a judge for more time to decide how he’ll plead to a list of a charges handed down by a grand jury.

Loyd is accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and her unborn child in December, and Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton last month.

"I want to use my UCC financial statement, my number, to write these charges off," said Loyd.

"Do you please guilty, not guilty or no contest," asked Chief Judge Frederick Lauten.

"I came here to do, do business in this courtroom," Loyd said.

After several back and forth moments, Judge Lauten entered not guilty pleas on Loyd's behalf to both first-degree murder charges.

The judge set Loyd's pretrial for Dixon's murder case on April 17 at 10 a.m. Several status hearings will take place before then.

A date for the trial involving Clayton's death has not been set.

Loyd could face the death penalty on some of the charges. Prosecutors have not decided if they'll seek the death penalty.

Investigators said Loyd killed Clayton when she confronted him at an Orange County Walmart in January. He had been on the run since Dixon’s slaying. He was found hiding in a vacant Orlando home after a nine-day manhunt.

Loyd was supposed to be formally charged during a hearing last week, but in a handwritten two-page letter, he told the judge that he hadn't yet received a copy of the indictment.

Read: Third profanity-laced court appearance by murder suspect Markeith Loyd

Between the two cases, Loyd faces 14 charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and the unlawful killing of an unborn child.

Loyd has repeatedly said that he wants to represent himself in the trials. It was a decision the judge said wasn't easy to make.

"If you choose to represent yourself, you and I have to communicate," said Lauten.

He also had several outbursts in court Wednesday and said he doesn't care about what the state does to him.

"We're talking about your choice, the decision that you've made. So I'm going to ask you these questions and ask you to answer them. As I mentioned earlier, if you choose to represent yourself, you and I have to communicate, so there are answers I need from you," said Lauten. "If you decide not to communicate with the court, then I may appoint an attorney to represent you, even if you don't want an attorney to represent you."

Loyd made several claims during court that the state brought the charges against a corporation named "Markeith Loyd," and not the person Markeith Loyd. He claimed all of it dates back to the era of slavery in the United States, but it's not clear how or why that would be the case.

WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry told Channel 9's Field Sutton that it sounds like Loyd is making a misguided attempt at asserting sovereign citizenship.

"The sovereign citizens, in a nutshell, believe that they're not subject to the laws of the State of Florida or the federal government. That they make their own laws and abide by their own rules," Perry said. "It results in a waste of time for the court to deal with it."

Watch Markeith Loyd's court outbursts below: