Man sentenced to life in shooting death of former Orlando Magic player

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida judge sentenced Lawrence Dority to life in prison in the 2022 shooting death of former Orlando Magic player Adreian Payne.

In July, a jury unanimously found Dority guilty of second-degree murder in Payne's death. They deliberated for about 90 minutes. On Friday, Dority was back in court for sentencing, wearing a blue prison uniform.

I'm going to impose the following sentence. I'm going to adjudicate you guilty of the offense, sentence you to life in the Florida Department of Corrections with a life minimum mandatory," the judge said.

What they're saying:

Tara Walker, Payne's then girlfriend, and Payne's brother, Antiwan Payne, both attended the sentencing and were happy with the judge's decision.

Well deserved. Well deserved. It's been a long time waiting. It's been three years. We've been waiting. He's been free this entire time," said Walker.

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"I was happy with the judge's decision. He did a great job. I'm glad that he's gone. He's going to stay there and that's what we needed. That's what we wanted," said Antiwan. 

At Friday's hearing, Walker talked directly to Dority.

"I want to show you who you took. I want to show you who's growing up without a father. That's Armani. He's three now. He doesn't know his dad because of you," she said, holding two large printed photographs of her son.

For Antiwan Payne, he asked the judge to impose the toughest sentence he could.

"I ask that you give him the maximum sentence and he never be free to do these heinous things again," he said.

The other side:

"I had no intent to harm anybody. I had no intentions of killing anybody or let alone shooting another father. Please imagine how scared any person could be in a situation like that," Dority told the judge.

"To give him more than the minimum will not just punish him, but would punish his children, his family," a family member said.

The backstory:

The shooting happened on May 9, 2022, outside Lawrence Dority's home in Orlando.

Lawrence Dority told the jury that he acted in self-defense after Payne allegedly threatened him and appeared to reach for a weapon.

Surveillance video and body cam footage recorded the moments surrounding the shooting, which became central pieces of evidence during the trial.

What happened?

Payne, 31, and his girlfriend, Tara Walker, arrived at Dority’s home that night to help mediate an apparent dispute between Dority and his girlfriend, Tatiana Mesa.

The police report stated that Dority had been arrested before – though not convicted – on a charge of domestic battery involving his girlfriend. 

According to prosecutors, the girlfriends had been friends for 15 years, which is how Payne and Dority knew each other.

Dority had been at a Mother’s Day celebration. His father dropped him and his 10-year-old son off at home around 1:30 a.m. That’s when he saw what he thought was Walker’s car, and walked up to it.

When he got to the car, he saw it was actually Payne inside, and repeatedly asked Payne what he was doing there. He claims Payne threatened him, saying "I’ll smoke you," and that he believed he saw a "silver object" in Payne’s waistband at the time. During testimony, Dority reiterated that he believed Payne had a gun.

The defense pointed out that Payne is about 6 feet, 8 inches tall — a full foot taller than Dority.

Dority went upstairs to get his gun, then came back downstairs and back over to Payne. Walker screamed for him to put down his weapon, but Dority shot Payne.

The defense argues that Dority shot Payne in self-defense — that Payne was much larger than him, and had threatened him, making him fear for his life. The prosecution argues Payne never went on Dority’s property, didn’t follow Dority up to his apartment, was in his own car when he was shot, was unarmed, and had no reason to be killed.

Who was Adreian Payne?

Adreian Payne attended Michigan State University. He joined the NBA in 2014, where he was the 15th pick in the first round. He played for the Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Orlando Magic during his professional basketball career.

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