The leader of a local Young Republicans chapter in Alabama was arrested last week in connection with the death of another man, with charges against him including a count of "sexual torture."

On Thursday, deputies with the Madison County Sheriff's Office discovered a dead body later identified as 54-year-old Derek Franklin Walls of Harvest, Alabama, after being called to a home on the 1700 block of Capshaw Road. Later that same day, it was announced that deputies had arrested 36-year-old Kyle Hayden Lewter in connection with Walls' death.

Lewter is a well-known member of the community, having served as chairman since 2022 for the Madison County chapter of the Young Republicans National Federation (YRNF), a political organization dedicated to registered GOP members between the ages of 18 and 40. According to a personal listing uncovered by a local CBS News affiliate, he was also an administrator of clinical research at the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).