ORLANDO, Fla.—Law enforcement officers made good on promises to go after people they think aided a fugitive in the weeks before he became the focus of a manhunt in the fatal shooting of an Orlando police sergeant, arresting three people they say helped him after the killing of his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
Markeith Loyd’s niece, Lakensha Smith-Loyd, was arrested on an accessory charge Wednesday. Later the same day, authorities arrested an ex-girlfriend of Loyd’s: Jameis Slaughter, who also faces a charge of accessory, according to online jail records.
And a day earlier, Zarghee Mayan, the fugitive’s supervisor at a fried chicken restaurant, was arrested on the same charge.
A manhunt for Loyd after Monday’s fatal shooting of Master Sgt. Debra Clayton entered its fourth day Thursday as authorities promised to reward anyone who turns him in and punish anyone who helps him hide.
More than 500 tips have come in from the public, which authorities believe may be particularly important, because others may be helping him hide.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina had warned earlier this week that anyone helping Loyd “will be put behind bars and brought to justice as well.”
Mayan’s arrest affidavit said Smith-Loyd collected money from him to give to her uncle in the days after the slaying of his ex-girlfriend in mid-December.
Smith-Loyd’s affidavit says she contacted deputies after the ex-girlfriend’s death and promised to help them find her uncle if they first told her whether a firearm had been recovered from the scene of the slaying. Then she stopped cooperating even as she contacted others on her uncle’s behalf, the affidavit said.
This undated file photo provided by the Orlando Police Department shows Markeith Loyd. (Orlando Police Department via AP)Slaughter is accused of collecting money for Loyd.
Mayan is accused of supplying restaurant food to his former co-worker, driving him around and offering him money, despite knowing that he was wanted, the affidavit said.
Mayan told authorities his most recent encounter with Loyd was last Saturday, two days before Clayton was fatally shot in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Mayan said he noticed that Loyd was armed and wearing body armor when they embraced, according to his arrest affidavit.
During another encounter, right after Loyd’s ex-girlfriend was killed in mid-December, Mayan said Loyd came into the restaurant with a gun, pointed it at Mayan and said, “‘Drive me or I will kill you. I just did something real bad,'” the affidavit said.
Mayan said he drove Loyd to several locations, including the home of Loyd’s estranged wife, where Loyd told him to knock on the door. Mayan said he only walked to the door without knocking because he was afraid Lloyd would shoot her, according to the affidavit, which noted that Mayan told conflicting stories about his encounters with Loyd.
After Clayton was shot, many of her colleagues immediately joined the pursuit; among them was a sheriff’s Deputy First Class Norman Lewis, who died when he was thrown from his motorcycle in an accident.
Funerals were planned for Lewis for Friday and Clayton for Saturday.
