Brooklyn Park man receives nearly 8-year sentence for 2021 Minneapolis murder

A Brooklyn Park man will spend time behind bars for killing a woman who died in April of 2021 after taking a pill he sold her in December 2020.

Dementry James Loyd, 29, was convicted of third-degree murder by selling, giving or distributing a controlled substance.

The charge carried a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, a $40,000 fine or both.

Thursday, Loyd was sentenced to serve just shy of eight years (94 months) in prison, however, he will get credit for the 359 days he already served.

A criminal complaint states police were called to the 2600 block of West Broadway Avenue North in Minneapolis just after 6 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2020, for a report of a person slumped over in a motor vehicle.

When officers arrived, they found two unconscious women inside the vehicle, which was running stationary in the right lane of traffic. The women were identified as a mother and daughter.

The complaint goes on to say officers began life-saving measures after finding the daughter, who was in the front passenger seat, wasn’t breathing and had glossy eyes.

Both of the women were hospitalized, with the daughter in critical condition.

Her mother told medical staff at a hospital she had taken a Percocet from a man she didn’t know on Broadway Avenue, didn’t know how her daughter got a pill and denied knowing who the dealer was.

However, two days later, a second statement was given to police by the woman’s mother, saying she was confused at the hospital and she’d met the dealer in the area of 85th Street and Zane Avenue. She still claimed to not know the dealer’s identity.

According to her statement, the dealer — who called himself “D,” had tattoos on his hands and was wearing a mask and a hoodie — reached into the front passenger seat where her daughter was sitting. The woman claimed to be near the trunk of the car when she had met up with him to get the drug.

On Dec. 22, the complaint states the woman’s mother contacted police again to say she found the dealer’s Facebook account and realized it was someone she had known since the dealer was a kid. She told police the dealer was Loyd and she hadn’t seen him since 2007 but got his number from her son.

When the mother contacted Loyd, he told her he was under house arrest.

They eventually met up after she drove to him, and he met her at her vehicle. They discussed her issue of being evicted, and Loyd then asked if she knew anyone who wanted Percocet. According to the complaint, the mother told Loyd she was and he went in and got her a pill. The document goes on to say she took it while he was outside the car, which is when he then reached into the front passenger seat.

The daughter told her mother as they were driving away she was going to owe Loyd money, too.

According to the document, Loyd called the mother’s son and was crying when he heard about his sister’s condition and said, “I thought they knew what they were taking.”

A statement provided by the mother’s son said Loyd had called him the night of Dec. 19, saying he had told his sister and mother the pill was a “fake Percocet,” “fake 30” or “fake fentanyl.” According to the son, Loyd said he didn’t mean for the overdose to happen. After the phone call, the son went to Loyd’s home but found Loyd was rumored to have cut off his electronic home monitoring ankle bracelet, according to the complaint.

Loyd had been wearing his ankle bracelet starting Dec. 14, 2021, and only left the house on Dec. 14. He then cut his bracelet on Dec. 21.

Police say they were able to get a search warrant for Loyd’s phone and Facebook account, and found GPS data showing he was in the area of where the exchange took place on Dec. 19 and also found evidence of drug dealing activity.

According to court records, a warrant was issued for Loyd’s arrest in January 2022 and was cleared the same day it was filed.

Due to previous criminal history, the complaint said prosecutors were seeking a longer sentence.