ORLANDO, Fla. _ Special prosecutor Brad King said Friday that he has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty against accused Orlando cop killer Markeith Loyd.
On Thursday Gov. Rick Scott took that case away from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala hours after she announced that she would not seek the death penalty against Loyd or anyone else.
After Scott signed that executive order, handing the case to King, Ayala said she would cooperate fully with the hand-off.
King is the elected state attorney in the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which includes Lake County.
He said that he had talked to Ayala's chief assistant, Deborah Barra, Friday morning.
"They have been fully cooperative and gracious and willing to do whatever they can do to help the transition work smoothly," he said.
An Orange County grand jury indicted Loyd in two murder cases, that of Orlando police Lt. Deborah Clayton and that of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon.
King said he and his chief deputy, Ric Ridgway, would handle the Clayton murder case.
He has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in that or the Dixon case, he said.
That's because he has not been able to review the evidence and determine whether there are enough "aggravating" factors to prompt a jury to recommend the death penalty.
"I'll tell you how I proceed, my policy and procedures in death penalty cases: I make every decision in my circuit whether we seek the death penalty or not. I sit with the homicide prosecutors assigned to the case. We go over the facts as they relate to those aggravating factors that are set forth in the statute. We determine if any or how many of those can be proven. ... That's how I will do it. I don't have all of the facts yet to make a full decision."
