MIAMI, Fla. – He’s accused of killing the mother of his two children. Xavier Johnson, 33, appeared before a judge to face formal charges on Thursday in the murder of Andreae Lloyd. Now without a father or a mother, the children will stay with their maternal grandfather.
Appearing before a judge Thursday afternoon to take custody of the two children, Arnold Lloyd appeared exhausted and grief stricken.
“It’s hard, but I have to be there for them,” he said, adding that they have not been told what is going on. “No. I can’t get them involved with that at this point,” he said.
Johnson, who is facing multiple, major felonies, was arrested on one count of first-degree murder, one count of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery with an assault or battery.
Investigators said that Andreae Lloyd, 27, was working an overnight shift as a caretaker at a group home. According to investigators, at midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 7, Lloyd answered a knock on the door and was attacked and thrown into her own car.
Judge Mindy Glazer told Johnson, appearing in court Thursday, that he was eligible for a public defender to represent him.
“I am happy to appoint them. This is a serious case,” she warned. “This may even be a death penalty case.”
The kidnapping set off a major search around Southwest Miami-Dade.
On Wednesday, family members reported they spotted Johnson in a heavily wooded area near the Homestead Speedway. Officers responded to the scene and sources tell Local 10 that they found human remains in the area in a large, metal box.
Authorities said a black truck belonging to Johnson was also found at the scene.
Soon after, Johnson was taken into custody.
Glazer set no bond for Johnson and said that he made a statement where he confessed to kidnapping and killing the victim.
Arnold Lloyd has an idea of why Johnson would want to kill his daughter. He said that Andreae was eight-weeks pregnant with her third child, but that the baby was not Johnson’s and that his daughter was planning on breaking up with him.
An official motive for the crime, however, has not been released by police.