Adreian Payne
Update, 7:50 a.m. Wednesday: Lawrence Dority, 29, is charged with first-degree murder with a firearm in the death of former Michigan State star Adreian Payne, who died Monday after being shot in Orlando, Fla., TMZ reports. Dority pleaded not guilty.
Original article, Tuesday:
The fatal shooting Monday of former Michigan State basketball star Adreian Payne in Florida appears to be premeditated, says a law enforcement affidavit, which suggests a charge of first-degree murder, The Detroit News reports. Payne was unarmed at the time.
The shooter, Lawrence Dority, 29, told authorities he was “intimidated” by Payne’s size and believed the MSU star, who played in the NBA, had a weapon as they spoke near a car outside Dority's Orlando residence, the paper says. Dority then went inside the home, got a gun and shot Payne once.
Payne, 31, and his girlfriend came to the Orlando home to aid Dority’s girlfriend, Tatiana Mesa, who is friends with Payne’s girlfriend, says the Orange County Sheriff's Office affidavit. Payne and his girlfriend had hoped to diffuse a disagreement between Dority and his girlfriend.
Payne was at MSU from 2010-14, then played in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic. He spent the 2021-22 season with Juventus Utena of the Lithuanian Basketball League.
