MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA, Ala. — Kyle Lewter, whose mental state has been at the center of court discussion in his murder and sexual torture case, has been ordered to return to jail.
Lewter has been held in the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility while undergoing psychiatric care and evaluation. According to court documents, he was found by the Alabama Department of Mental Health to be "psychiatrically stable" to participate in court proceedings. A status hearing is set for October 17, 2024.
The court ordered that Lewter be released from the ADMH and maintained on current medications at the Madison County Jail, where the Sheriff's department will provide follow up care as recommended by Taylor Harden SMF.
Previous coverage
10/4: State certifies that it has delivered all discovery materials to defense team. Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Fund files a motion requesting, on behalf of the Walls family, that Lewter pay restitution for funeral costs if he is found guilty..
4/25: Court documents show that Kyle Lewter has been approved for further mental evaluation. The order filed on April 12, 2024, says an in-patient facility must evaluate Lewter.
The mental evaluation will end with a report on if Lewter is mentally able to stand trial. Another evaluation report will be on Lewter's mental state at the time of the alleged offense.
Bond hearings and grand jury hearings can continue if necessary.
3/12: Court documents revealed new information in the murder and sexual torture case in Harvest Alabama. 36-year-old Kyle Hayden Lewter was arrested by Madison County deputies after they were called to a home in the 1700 block of Capshaw Road.
Court documents reveal that Derek Walls was killed by "blunt force by a hammer" on or about March 6, 2024. As for the sexual torture charge, FOX54 is partially redacting the material due to its graphic content, but it says that the victim was still alive when he experienced non-consensual penetration of an orifice with an inanimate object on or about March 5, 2024.
Lewter was expected in court today, but the appearance was postponed until April. While he was granted and posted bond for the murder charge, he has not been granted bond for the sexual torture charge. That will be addressed at the same time as his preliminary hearing on April 11, 2024. Attorneys for Lewter have also filed for a mental health examination to determine if Lewter is "competent to stand trial and assist in his defense and to ascertain any mental illness or defect which may have existed at the time of the alleged offense."
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.
