As friends, family and the rest of the basketball community continue to mourn the death of former Michigan State star Adreian Payne, details on how his death unfolded have been released in court documents.
On the day of his killing in Orlando, Florida, Payne was going with his girlfriend to help a female friend who was allegedly in an abusive relationship when 29-year-old Lawrence Dority, the suspect, fatally shot Payne, according to the Detroit Free Press.
He was shot early Monday morning at 1:33 a.m. and pronounced dead shortly after at 2:23 a.m. after being taken to a nearby hospital.
Dority was arrested at his home, where the shooting occurred, and was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm. On Tuesday morning, Dority entered a not guilty plea and waived his arraignment, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Payne and his girlfriend were at his home to assist Dority’s girlfriend, Tatiana Mesa.
From the Detroit Free Press:
Dority told Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies his father, Larry Dority, dropped him off at the younger Dority’s residence at 2529 Egret Shores Drive. He told police he lived at that location for two months. They arrived and saw an unknown vehicle parked in the roadway at a nearby intersection, and the alleged shooter exited his father’s car and walked to the other vehicle, a black Chevy sedan with dark tinted windows. Payne and his girlfriend were inside.
The elder Dority, who remained in his car, told police his son approached the car’s driver’s side and began “talking close together” with Payne at the vehicle. According to the affidavit, the father said he felt Lawrence Dority “appeared to be intimidated based on the size difference and (his son’s) stance.”
Payne was 6 feet 10 and 244 pounds; Dority’s court file lists him as 5-8, 150.
The younger Dority told deputies he interpreted Payne’s presence as a threat, according to the court file, and shot Payne after he got out of his car. According to Dority, Payne was “making movements with his right hand in the right side of his waistband” and that he “observed the ‘shape of a gun’ on the right side of his shirt, where he was moving hand.” Dority also claimed Payne said, “I’ll smoke you bra,” which Dority said is why he left the vehicle and went into his house to get his gun after the initial verbal confrontation.
Lawrence Dority saw Payne’s presence as a threat and shot him after he got out of his car. He also claims Payne was “making movements” with his right hand and he saw the shape of a gun. He also claims Payne said, “I’ll smoke you bra,” which is why Dority went to get his firearm.
When Dority left his home, witnesses saw him return to the car with something under his shirt which they believe was a gun. Security camera footage and audio caught someone saying, “Do not pull out your gun” and “we were asked to come here,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Dority fired one shot at Payne and then went back inside his home. Lawrence Dority’s father, Larry, heard the single shot and went to check on Payne inside his car. Larry’s son called emergency services and told them, “This man tried coming to my house, he cut around my block, and he tried shooting me. … He act like he got a gun, and I shot him.”
More from the Detroit Free Press:
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies felt Payne “did not pose an immediate threat to Dority” and that the suspect “left the situation and then returned with a firearm.” They said Payne was unarmed, and there was no firearm found in his vehicle.