‘I shot him’ -- Orange County police say there’s cause for First Degree Murder charge in Payne death

ORANGE COUNTY, Fl. (WILX) - Former Michigan State University basketball star Andreian Payne was found dead at an Orange County, Florida home at the age of 31.

Now, police are releasing details of what happened, and where the investigation is going.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday morning, the Orange County Sheriffs Office responded to a home on reports of a shooting. Deputies quickly discovered the victim injured in a black Chevy sedan.

Background: Former Spartan star Adreian Payne remembered for his impact on and off the court

Orange County Fire Rescue 81 arrived on scene and transported the victim to a nearby hospital for treatment, where he was pronounced deceased at 2:23 a.m. Checking his driver’s license, they discovered the victim was Adreian Payne.

The District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office transported Payne for autopsy, which is still pending as of Tuesday.

A man named Lawrence Dority was at the scene when police arrived. Dority had contacted 911 after the shooting.

“This man tried coming to my house, he cut around my block, and he tried shooting me,” Dority said, “He act like he got a gun and I shot him.”

The District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Payne was not in possession of a firearm or holster when transported. However, Dority insists that Payne had been acting as though he was reaching for a gun.

Dority said, “He reached for his gun, I ran inside my house, and I shot him.”

Larry Dority, who is the father of Lawrence, was also on the scene and is now a witness. Larry stated he arrived at the home in order to drop Lawrence Dority and Lawrence’s son off at the residence.

Both Larry and Lawrence said that, when they arrived, an unknown vehicle was parked in the road near the intersection of White Isle Lane and Egret Shores Drive. Lawrence exited Larry’s vehicle and approached the vehicle parked in the road.

Police say Larry witnessed Dority and the driver of the vehicle talking close together. He described the driver of the vehicle as a very tall man who he did not recognize.

Larry said he could not hear any talking due to his bad hearing as well as his distance from the conversation. Larry saw Lawrence return to the residence, then heard a shot but did not know where it came from.

Read: East Lansing Police Oversight Commission pushes for more video to be released in Meijer police shooting

Larry went to the man in the vehicle and found him injured in the driver seat. He then provided medical aide.

Another witness who observed the interaction between Payne and Dority says that Payne was not threatening Dority in any way, including threatening motions.

A surveillance camera captured video and audio of the incident. On the footage, a female voice can be heard saying “do not pull your gun out” and “we were asked to come here.”

A single shot was fired. After realizing someone had been injured, one of the witnesses retrieved Lawrence’s son and took him to safety.

“Based on the facts and circumstances of the investigation, your affiant reasonably believes Dority committed the homicide,” Orange County Police wrote in a report. “Dority prepared to kill returning to his residence, arming himself with a firearm, and firing one time.”

Police explained that the circumstances around the fired shot mean they consider the killing to be premeditated.

“Probable cause exists to charge Dority with First Degree Murder with a Firearm,” police wrote.

The penalty for First Degree Murder in Florida is life in prison, or death.

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