MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA, Ala. — The man arrested this week for the murder of a Harvest resident faces new charges including sexual torture. 36-year-old Kyle Hayden Lewter was arrested Thursday by Madison County deputies after they were called to a home in the 1700 block of Capshaw Road.
Deputies discovered the body of 54-year-old Derek Franklin Walls of Harvest. Thursday evening, officials said that detectives had arrested and charged Lewter with the murder of Walls.
"It appears that there was a physical altercation between both individuals who were known to each other, which ultimately resulted in the death of Mr. Walls," officials said on social media. They also confirmed that detectives are still awaiting autopsy results.
Lewter was taken into custody and transported to the Madison County Jail. The sheriff's office had said Lewter was "ordered to be held without the possibility of posting a bond."
His listing on the sheriff's office website was changed late Friday afternoon, with a bond set at $60,000 and a charge of "sexual torture - sexual abuse using inanimate object." Sheriff's officials confirmed with FOX54 News Friday night that the charges are connected to the murder investigation.
In court documents written March 8, and made publicly available on Monday, Judge Chris Comer writes that "although the Defendant was presumed to be ineligible to be released on bond pursuant to Aniah's Law because of the charged crime, the State consented to a bond being set at the amount imposed."
As of 3 p.m. Monday, Lewter is still listed as an active inmate in the Madison County Jail system. He has a pretrial detention hearing related to the sexual torture charge scheduled for Tuesday. A felon examination hearing on both charges is scheduled for April.
Lewter is active in the Madison County community; he was elected chairman of the Madison County Young Republicans in February 2022, according to a cross-post between his personal and the organization's Facebook pages, and he also listed himself as Administrator of Clinical Research at O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB.
Family members of Walls have set up a GoFundMe for his funeral expenses. Walls' father was Clarence Walls, who worked for the Alabama Republican party before he died in 2021.