ORLANDO, Fla. — Markeith Loyd, the man accused in the murders of his pregnant ex-girlfriend an Orlando Police Lieutenant, is set to undergo a mental evaluation after a courtroom outburst Tuesday.

Loyd is facing two murder trials, one in the death of Sade Dixon in December 2016, and one in the slaying of Lt. Debra Clayton a month later.

In a hearing that was supposed to be about motions from attorneys, Loyd opened up, speaking about his alleged innocence and what he calls a setup by his murdered ex-girlfriend.

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

One was a request to combine the trial over Dixon's murder and the murder of Lt. Clayton. Loyd's defense attorneys argue because the court is allowing some of the evidence from Lt. Clayton's killing in Dixon's trial, the two should be tried together.

But Loyd repeatedly interrupted court proceedings and at one point proclaimed his innocence.

Loyd directed his comments directly toward the family of Sade Dixon, his pregnant ex-girlfriend he's accused of killing in December 2016.

He appeared to be defending how he treated Sade in the time before her murder.

"I was sleeping in the car so she could stay focused on school," he alleged.

At one point, Loyd argued that he tried to turn himself in before police arrested him, following a manhunt in January 2017.

A legal expert in criminal trial proceedings says he thinks there's a good chance the judge could grant the defense's request in combining the Dixon and Clayton murder trials. 

"So because there is so much evidence coming into Ms. Dixon's trial from the case of Lt. Clayton, the defense is basically looking at this. We need to be able to attack this without any restrictions whatsoever, since there's going to be so much evidence that's going to be very compelling coming in already that they already now about," said Jonathan Rose, criminal trial attorney.

A mental evaluation will have to be done before the case can move forward. It's possible that could delay the beginning of the trial, which is right now still scheduled to begin September 27.