By Caitlin Doornbos
Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. — The police car that the late Lt. Debra Clayton was driving before she was killed while trying to catch an accused killer Jan. 9 was vandalized Thursday, according to the Orlando Police Department.
Clayton’s patrol vehicle has been parked outside police headquarters at 100 S. Hughey Ave. since her death. Mourners have been paying their respects to the slain officer by laying flowers and wreaths around the vehicle while it has been on display.
Police released photos Friday of the vehicle defaced with what appears to be permanent marker. Pictures show the front of the car marked with rambling scrawled messages such as “Tax Payer,” “Protect & Serve The Public,” “Angela Madison is the best,” “Love you” “Rapest"[sic] and “Kansas.”
“Unbelievably sad someone would vandalize Lt. Debra Clayton’s vehicle,” Orlando Police posted on its Twitter account.
Orlando Police will not move the vehicle, but rather it will remain parked in front of the station at Pine Street and Hughey Avenue next to banners of Clayton’s face and makeshift memorials, according to OPD spokeswoman Wanda Miglio. A bouquet of flowers and wooden angel wings rested on the top of the defaced front end amid the unwanted scribblings.
Police do not know who committed the offense but are investigating, Miglio said.
“We are checking the cameras and looking for a suspect,” Miglio said.
Unbelievably sad someone would vandalize Lt. Debra Clayton’s vehicle. pic.twitter.com/2yairat1Rq
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) January 20, 2017
Markeith Loyd was arrested Tuesday after a massive manhunt that began after Clayton was gunned down outside a Wal-Mart in northwest Orlando. He had been wanted since the killing of his ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, in December, and police said Loyd killed Clayton when she tried to confront him at the store.
Police officially filed charges against him in Clayton’s death Thursday, and he now faces a total of 10 charges related to the two incidents.
Clayton, 42, was a 17-year veteran of the Police Department and was posthumously promoted from the rank of master sergeant. She is survived by her husband and son.
No suspects in the vandalism had been announced as of Friday afternoon.