ORLANDO, Fla. — On Friday morning, a judge denied accused cop killer Markeith Loyd's request to combine two of his murder trials.

• Judge also rules that Markeith Loyd is competent to stand trial
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Loyd is facing two murder trials: One for the death of pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon in December 2016 and for the death of Lt. Debra Clayton of the Orange County Sheriff's Office in January 2017. If convicted, Loyd is facing the death penalty.

Judge Frederick Lauten denied the defense's motion to combine the two murder cases.

Combining the two trials would have given more prep time for the defense. The first trial is for the death of Dixon, which is scheduled to start September 27.

“So we have to defend this case twice, it doesn’t make sense to defend it twice,” said Loyd’s lead defense Atttorney Terence Lenamon.

Lenamon believes revealing their defense in the Lieutenant’s case will give the prosecution an advantage in that later trial. One of their strategies appears to be to show Loyd wasn’t the aggressor during the shooting.

The defense attorney said at trial, he’ll be showing surveillance video from the Wal-Mart parking lot where the shooting happened.

Loyd’s defense admitted while combining the trials is something they believe is best, Loyd himself reportedly doesn’t want that. The judge says because of that, and because she believes jurors could confuse the two cases in one trial, she ruled the trials won’t be combined. 

Competent to Stand Trial

Lauten also said that he found Loyd competent to stand trial, based from his courtroom observations. He found that Loyd seems to be aware of what was happening in the last hearing.

During his last hearing on Tuesday, August 13, Loyd made an outburst, saying that he was innocent of the crimes against him and that he was setup by Dixon.

His lead defense attorney, Terence Lenamon, told the judge Loyd's statements — including some out loud statements in the courtroom even before court started — made him concerned about Loyd's mental competency to stand trial.

However, Lauten ruled that Loyd is competent to stand trial.

Loyd's attorneys spoke with the judge about their concerns about being ready for the September trial and asked for a delay, which the judge denied. 

During the hearing, it was discovered that the jury selection can last from three to four weeks.