Sade Dixon, 24, was three months pregnant with her ex-boyfriend, Markeith Loyd's child, when he allegedly shot her dead.
The mother of the slain pregnant woman allegedly murdered by the father of her unborn child issued a plea to the Florida man to turn himself in, telling InsideEdition.com that she’s been left with questions only he can now answer.
“Why? Why? That’s my only question — why?” Stephanie Dixon-Daniels said Monday, a little over a week since her daughter, 24-year-old Sade Dixon, stepped outside their Lockhart home on December 13 and was fatally shot, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, Markeith DaMangzlo Loyd, 41.
Dixon was three months pregnant with Loyd’s child.
“He came here with the intent to kill my daughter. He had the gun. My daughter didn’t deserve to die, she didn’t deserve this,” Dixon-Daniels said.
Dixon had been living back with her family and her two young sons, ages 8 and 2, for just two days when Loyd allegedly came banging on the family’s door.
She had broken up with Loyd after living together for about four months, and though her mother had not asked what caused the split, she said she was thankful her daughter was no longer with him.
“When I met him, I didn’t like him, and he knew I didn’t like him,” Dixon-Daniels told InsideEdition.com, saying she had suspected he was abusive toward her daughter.
"She always said, 'he never hit me,' but people saw it," she said. "They had fights and he hit her. I told him, 'don’t you ever hit my child or you’ll have me to deal with.'"
So when Dixon, a mother of two, brought her sons, ages 8 and 2, back to her mother’s home on December 11 with all of her belongings with her, Dixon-Daniels was overjoyed.
“When she came back on Sunday, she came back with all her things,” she said. “He actually dropped them off and put all her stuff in the garage. We didn’t have a heart-to-heart about it... but I was just happy she was back. They seemed okay, everything seemed okay, so I didn’t ask why. But now that’s all I ask — why?”
Read: Pregnant Mother of 2 Shot and Killed by Ex-Boyfriend as She Opened Front Door: Police
Dixon-Daniels had been upstairs with one of her grandsons when she heard the shots.
It not even been 10 minutes since her daughter had stepped outside to talk with Loyd, and the pair could be heard arguing before the shots rang out, she said.
“I heard ‘pow, pow, pow.’ I jumped up and ran downstairs and I opened the door, and that’s when he shot at me,” she said. “My 19-year-old son, he pulled me from the door. If it wasn’t for him I probably would have been shot.”
Loyd had allegedly shot Dixon, killing her, and then turned his gun on her 26-year-old brother, Ronald Steward, who came running outside to his sister’s side when he heard the shots.
Steward was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and is now in stable condition.
“He was shot five times,” Dixon-Daniels said. “He was shot in the back, barely missing his spinal cord. He has a shattered disc — they had to put in a titanium disk — he was shot in the leg, shot in the chest and the stomach.”
The family plans to put Dixon to rest once her brother is able leave the hospital.
“I’m trying to hold off on having services until her hero can attend,” Dixon-Daniels said. “He’s gonna need major therapy; he’s gonna have to learn how to walk again.”
Police are still searching for Loyd, who is considered armed and dangerous.
Read: Pastor's Pregnant Wife is Fatally Shot in the Head During Home Invasion: Police
Loyd has an extensive criminal record, including convictions for first-degree battery and battery on a law enforcement officer. He has been arrested 20 times in Orange County since 1994, records show.
“We live in Lockhart, not Pine Hills,” Dixon-Daniels said, referencing the neighboring area that has experienced a recent spate of shootings. “This is a good, quiet neighborhood. Working, middle-class people trying to make a living live out here. Why would you bring this violence to my neighborhood?
Convinced his friends and family are helping him evade the authorities, Dixon-Daniels asked that he and those who might be harboring him rethink their actions and give up.
"I see people posting [on social media], 'we've got your back, Markeith' – really? You’ve got a killer’s back. If this was your sister, your mother, your aunt — would you still have his back?” Dixon-Daniels said.
Speaking to Loyd directly, the heartbroken mother said: “You killed her unborn child, which was your child that she was carrying. You deserve to rot in hell. Turn yourself in.”
Hoping that it is only a matter of time until Loyd is arrested, Dixon-Daniels and her family are now focusing on healing, remembering their daughter and sister while keeping her memory alive for her two young sons.
While her oldest son is taking it day by day, Dixon’s youngest child is struggling to understand why his mother is no longer there, she said.
“He called her doo-doo, and he just keeps saying ‘doo-doo gone. Doo-doo gone,’” Dixon-Daniels said.
An aspiring model and actress, Dixon had worked on breaking into the business for a while before opening her own skincare and haircare business, her mother said. She had also decided to get her real estate license and had just passed a course in preparation, she continued.
“She was always giving her boys everything top of the line. She was a great mom,” Dixon-Daniels said. “She was a superstar. She just wanted to better herself without the help of her mom and dad. She could be a jokester, she was bubbly, she loved to play and she was just a good person all around. She didn’t deserve this.”
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