Juror explains how court's wording about unborn child may have spared Markeith Loyd of death penalty

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Channel 9's Megan Cruz spoke exclusively with one of the 12 jurors who convicted Markeith Loyd of the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, recommending that a judge sentenced him to life behind bars.

Loyd faced the death penalty for both Dixon's death as well as the baby's.

The court specifically asked the jurors if the unborn baby was a "person less than 12 years of age." The juror told Cruz that was one of the biggest issues that stumped them while they deliberated if Loyd should live or die.

"What do you call a child that's still in the womb that needs a mom to survive? What do you call that? Is it a fetus? Is it an unborn child? Is it a baby?" asked the juror.

While she believed Loyd should have received the death penalty, she said some may have disagreed because they may not have thought Dixon's unborn child was a person.

Since the jurors couldn't agree on whether a fetus was a person, they could not execute Loyd for that murder. The juror said it comforts her to know that while Loyd didn't get the death penalty, he'll remain behind bars.

As for Dixon's murder, "Just some of the jurors may not have believed in the death penalty," she said. "Or it wasn't severe enough. I mean I think it's severe. You kill one life. It's severe."

The woman said she'll be invested in Loyd's upcoming trial in the murder of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton. When asked if she thought Loyd would be able to escape the death penalty in that trial, she said, "That I don't know."

That case is scheduled to go to trial in 2020.

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