ORLANDO, Fla. – After Markeith Loyd murdered his ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, at her Pine Hills home on Dec. 13, according to police, Loyd was able to evade police in Orlando until Monday.
Dixon lived in Canyon Ridge, less than 3 miles from the Tzadik Brookside Apartments in Rosemont where police said Loyd ditched the vehicle he had carjacked and where the SWAT team barged through an apartment door with a battering ram yesterday.
The apartment complex is less than 4 miles from the Walmart Supercenter on Princeton Street where Loyd is accused of murdering Master Sgt. Debra Clayton.
"Right now I really, really feel sick," said Matthew Kelly, who lives in Dixon's subdivision. "Sick. I really feel that should have never happened. Feeling very insecure walking around the area."
Kelly, who has lived in the same home for 20 years, said his neighbors feel the same way -- upset, angry and fearful.
"Right now, I was talking to my neighbor and this is the first time in 30 years that I don't feel safe in Pine Hills," said a woman who didn't want to give her name. "We've been talking about moving out of the area but then what's left? What do you leave? You leave neighbors to fend for themselves. So for some people leaving is not an option. They can't leave. They can't afford to. It's not an option."
Neighbors said they're also frustrated that Loyd has been given so many chances, including more than a dozen arrests, a conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer and four years in prison.
"We're heartbroken with the situation," said a man who didn't want to give his name. "Here's a guy who spent so many years in jail, he's out, he murders a young lady with a child on the way. Now he murders a police officer and it's not right."
Neighbors also said they're disappointed in some of their fellow neighbors.
"Somebody's protecting him and that's really really sad that these two officers had to lose their lives because somebody harboring him somewhere," said a woman. "That's sad."
"There's something wrong with our ground game," Kelly said. "The community needs to come out and start turning these criminals in. They need to be more proactive in working with the police department because what we're doing in the long run is hurting ourselves."
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