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Murder of Adreian Payne

6-foot-10-inch Adreian Payne was an elite high school basketball player who earned a scholarship to Michigan State University in 2010.

He played four years at the school before being drafted into the NBA by the Atlanta Hawks.

After four years in the NBA, he went overseas to play.

By May 9th, 2022, he had been back in the States for 19 days.

Payne communicated with his girlfriend of 5 years, Tara Walker, just after 1 am and learned she was going to the Orlando home of Tatiana Mesa and 29-year-old Lawrence Dority. Dority and Mesa were reportedly having issues. Walker had known Mesa and Dority for over a decade and had reportedly helped them with relationship issues in the past.

Payne told her he would meet her there, but since he was closer, he arrived first and was waiting in his car.

At around 1:30 am, Dority’s father was dropping off Dority and his 10-year-old son. Dority approached Payne’s vehicle, thinking Walker was inside, since Walker had driven it while Payne was overseas. But Payne stepped out; the two had met a few times before, but were not friends.

As Walker pulled up, she saw that Payne and Dority were talking.

After a conversation with Payne, Dority went inside his home. While Dority was inside, Walker asked Payne to move his vehicle up so she could park in place. Payne was initially parked seven houses down from Dority’s residence, but when he moved the vehicle, he was much closer.

When Dority came back outside, Walker saw that Dority was clutching something near his waist. She shouted, “Do not pull your gun out,” and “We were asked to come here,” but Dority didn’t listen and fired one shot that hit Payne as he was sitting in his car.

Dority went back into the home and put the gun away. He came back outside, got his son, and took him inside the house, then he called 911.

On the call, he stated, “This man tried coming to my home, he cut around my block, and he tried shooting me.”He act like he got a gun, and I shot him.” Dority also told the operator, “he reached for his gun, I ran inside my house and I shot him.

The 31-year-old basketball star was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

According to ClickOrlando.com, Dority was questioned and claimed the shooting was self-defense, saying he saw the “shape of a gun” on Payne’s hip. But Payne was unarmed, and Dority was charged with first-degree murder, but the charge was later reduced to second-degree murder.

Legal Proceedings

His trial began in July 2025.

Dority maintained he feared for his life and was emotional when he took the stand. He claimed that when he came back outside with the weapon, he asked Payne, “Why are you here?” and “Can you please leave?”

Dority insisted that Payne had a gun and reached for it before he was shot.

The prosecution pulled a statement from his interrogation when a detective asked Dority if Payne had a gun. Dority stated, “I cannot say I necessarily saw a gun.”

The jury got the case on July 30th, 2025. They only needed 90 minutes to come to a decision. They convicted Dority of second-degree murder.

When Dority returned to court on August 29th for sentencing, he asked the judge for leniency. The minimum sentence was 25 years, but the judge decided Dority deserved the harshest sentence.

He sentenced Dority to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As he was led out of the court, he said, “I will not spend my life in prison,” and had harsh words for Walker, calling her a “Liar.”

Outside the court, his sister spoke to the media, saying he didn’t deserve life without parole. She also wondered why Walker would invite Payne to Dority’s house without permission.

Aftermath

In August 2025, the mother of Dority’s kids created a GoFundMe titled Justice For Lawrence Dority, to raise money for his appeal. The fundraiser did not meet it’s $14,000 goal, but it did raise $1,155.