ORLANDO, Fla. _ Markeith Loyd told jurors he wanted to raise Sade Dixon's baby _ even if he suspected he wasn't the father.
At the witness stand in his own murder trial Monday, Loyd testified he didn't get a chance to raise his older children after going to federal prison and wanted a new chance at a family. The jury watched a video of Loyd and Dixon at a sonogram appointment where the couple was laughing and smiling.
"I wanted the baby," he told jurors.
But days after the sonogram, authorities say Loyd shot his 24-year-old pregnant ex-girlfriend after a fight in December 2016, killing Dixon and her unborn child. He faces the possibility of execution if jurors find him guilty of first-degree murder in Dixon's slaying.
Loyd, 44, testified he met Dixon on Facebook after being released from federal prison in 2014 and being homeless. He was working four jobs, including one as a delivery driver for New Texas Fried Chicken and renting a home.
"What else you got to offer," Loyd said he asked Dixon after they started talking. "What's your credit score?"
Videos presented by Loyd's defense attorneys showed a happy couple. But Loyd testified her mother didn't respect him and he often fought with Dixon over her smoking weed while pregnant and eating meat.
Loyd, who told jurors he hasn't eaten meat in 10 years, said he once got into an argument with Dixon over her eating a ham sandwich.
"I don't believe in killing God's creations," he said. "We all the same flesh and blood."
Prosecutors rested their case Monday morning in Loyd's murder trial.
The state's last witness was Orange-Osceola associate medical examiner Sara Zydowicz, who said Dixon was shot eight times, including directly in the heart.
"The blood loss was very rapid," Zydowicz said. "She would not be mobile for a very long period of time."
Zydowicz confirmed the 24-year-old was about 12 to 13 weeks pregnant with a male fetus.
"Did the gunshot wounds also result in the death of the child?" Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman asked.
"Yes," Zydowicz responded.
Prosecutors say Loyd shot Dixon and her brother Ronald Stewart on Dec. 13, 2016, after a heated confrontation in which each accused the other of being unfaithful and Loyd said Dixon went against his wishes by eating meat and smoking marijuana while pregnant.
Loyd's attorneys have argued Dixon had a gun that Loyd wrestled away from her during a struggle. When Stewart came outside to stop the fight, he tried to overpower Loyd, who shot at them in defense with two guns, according to Loyd's attorneys.
But Stewart testified he never attacked Loyd, and prosecutors said Loyd fired at the siblings as they walked back into their home _ killing Dixon and critically injuring her brother.
Loyd also faces the death penalty in the slaying of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton, who police say was shot and killed by Loyd after she tried to arrest him Jan. 9, 2017, at a local Walmart.
The accused killer's trial in Clayton's killing is scheduled for 2020.
