Orlando police killer appeals to US Supreme Court.

A man sentenced to death for the 2017 killing of an Orlando police officer has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that a prosecutor misled jurors during the sentencing hearing.

An attorney for Markeith Loyd filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court on April 30 challenging a Florida Supreme Court decision that upheld Loyd's conviction and sentence in the murder of Lt. Debra Clayton. A notice of the appeal was posted Thursday on the Florida Supreme Court's website.

Assistant Public Defender and Loyd's attorney, Nancy Ryan, alleged that a prosecutor misled the jury by claiming they were seeking unanimity in their deliberations on Loyd's sentence.

“In particular, this (Supreme) Court of the United States does not permit arguments that mislead the jury as to its role in the death penalty trial under local law and deceive it in a way that makes it feel less responsible than it should be for making life-or-death decisions,” the petition states. “Here, that line was crossed. The prosecutor argued that the jury should or must do its best to achieve unanimity on the crucial issue before it, a position inconsistent with Florida substantive law.”

The Florida Supreme Court rejected this and other arguments in a November decision.

In 2017, Florida state lawmakers passed a measure that required a unanimous jury recommendation before defendants could be sentenced to death, but in 2023 that unanimity requirement was eliminated.

Attorney General Ashley Moody's office asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an extension to file a response to the petition in a motion filed Thursday.

Loyd shot Clayton after she spotted him in a Walmart store while there was a warrant out for his arrest for the murder of Sade Dixon, who was pregnant with his child.