Claim:
An Alabama man who was a member of a Young Republicans group and a campaign chairman for a state senator was arrested on charges of sexual torture and murder.
Rating:
Rating: True
Context:
Though social media posts about the case spread widely in summer 2025, the arrest occurred in March 2024.
In early August 2025, rumors circulated online that an Alabama man who worked as campaign chairman for Republican state Sen. Tom Butler and was a member of the Madison County Young Republicans was arrested on charges of sexual torture and murder.
The claim made the rounds across social media platforms such as Facebook (archived, archived) and X (archived, archived), with some users pointing to the rumor as apparent evidence of hypocrisy within the Republican Party.
Snopes readers reached out as far back as February 2025 with questions about the alleged crime and the suspect’s connection to the Alabama GOP.
The rumor was true, although the arrest occurred more than a year before the social media posts spread in summer 2025.
Local news media and other outlets such as People magazine covered the arrest of Kyle Haden Lewter in March 2024. Lewter’s mug shot and arrest record are available to view on the Madison County Sheriff’s Office website, at the time of this writing.
According to multiple local news reports, authorities initially arrested Lewter on suspicion of murder in the death of 54-year-old Derek Franklin Walls, with the charges later updated to include sexual torture and sexual abuse using an inanimate object.
Although there were some reports Walls was fatally shot, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office posted a statement to Facebook (archived) on March 8, 2024, that said “the victim and offender knew each other and got into a physical altercation that resulted in the victim being injured. It appears he died as a result of those injuries.”
According to a court document and reporting by Huntsville, Alabama, TV news station WZDX, Lewter was admitted to an inpatient mental health facility in April 2024 for evaluation but was ultimately determined “‘psychiatrically stable’ to participate in court proceedings” in October 2024 and returned to jail to await trial.
(District Court of Madison County, Alabama)
As for Lewter’s political affiliation, local news outlet WAFF reported, “Lewter is listed as a member of the Madison County Young Republicans according to its website. Lewter was also listed as a point of contact. He also was a campaign chairman for State Sen. Tom Butler.” In a statement to the TV station, Butler said he was “speechless” and “saddened for all families involved.”
In addition, WZDX reported that Lewter “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.”
Lewter’s Facebook profile and the alleged posts have since been deleted and are unavailable on web archiving websites. An archived page on the Madison County Republican Party website captured in December 2023, months before Lewter’s arrest, listed his name, phone number and email as the point of contact for the Madison County Young Republicans.
It appears the Madison County Young Republicans rebranded following Lewter’s arrest. As of this writing, the same webpage listed the group as the Rocket City Young Republicans, and the group’s Facebook page shows it was created in May 2024. (Huntsville is known as “Rocket City” because of its “progressive industries in aerospace, defense and biotech,” according to the city’s website.)
According to Alabama news website AL.com, Madison County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Brent Patterson said the criminal case was not tied to Lewter’s political activity. “The factual circumstances of this death investigation are not related to any political activities that Mr. Lewter was engaged in,” he told the site.
Snopes reached out to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County district attorney’s office and Madison County Republican Party for comment on Lewter’s case and his membership in the county’s Young Republicans. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Sources:
“Alabama Commission Awards $731.33 for Derek Walls’ Murder Expenses.” Rocketcitynow.Com, 1 Jul. 2025, https://www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news/crime/kyle-lewter-directed-to-pay-731-in-compensation-to-family-of-man-hes-accused-of-killing/525-79e0812c-6e71-48e8-a882-d8af566b2761.
“Alabama GOP Activist Accused of Murder, Sexual Torture of Man.” People.Com, https://people.com/alabama-gop-activist-accused-murder-sexual-torture-8607340. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Clubs | MGOP.ORG. 8 Dec. 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/20231208023357/https://mgop.org/category/gop-clubs/.
—. https://mgop.org/category/gop-clubs/. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau. https://www.huntsville.org/rocket-city/. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
“Kyle Lewter Found Competent to Stand Trial, Will Return to Madison County Jail.” Rocketcitynow.Com, 12 Oct. 2024, https://www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news/local/kyle-lewter-competent-stand-trial-ordered-return-madison-county-jail/525-6563412d-3671-4ec7-ad28-d1f0e0c0c7b7.
“Kyle Lewter Motion – Competency – Return To Court | PDF | Separation Of Powers | Law Of The United States.” Scribd, https://www.scribd.com/document/779297469/Kyle-Lewter-Motion-Competency-Return-to-Court. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
“New Court Documents Reveal Disturbing Details in Kyle Lewter’s Murder Case.” Rocketcitynow.Com, 12 Mar. 2024, https://www.rocketcitynow.com/video/news/local/new-court-documents-reveal-disturbing-details-in-kyle-lewters-murder-case/525-389a9964-48a0-4c39-a4c4-bc47c2e7b27f.
Reports, Staff. “Ardmore Son Attending Trump Inaugural.” Athens The News Courier, 18 Jan. 2017, https://enewscourier.com/2017/01/18/ardmore-son-attending-trump-inaugural/.
“Rocket City Young Republicans.” Rocket City Young Republicans, https://rocketcityyr.wixsite.com/rcyr. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Staff, WAFF 48 Digital. “Madison County Murder Suspect Now Facing Sex Abuse Charges.” Https://Www.Waff.Com, 8 Mar. 2024, https://www.waff.com/2024/03/08/madison-county-murder-suspect-now-facing-sex-abuse-charges/.
View Roster – KYLE HADEN LEWTER – Madison County Sheriff’s Office. https://www.madisoncountysheriffal.org/roster_view.php?booking_num=M00113685. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Williams, Javon. “Man Charged with Murder after 54-Year-Old Found Dead in Harvest Community.” Https://Www.Waff.Com, 8 Mar. 2024, https://www.waff.com/2024/03/08/man-charged-with-murder-after-54-year-old-found-dead-harvest-community/.
wthornton@al.com, William Thornton |. “North Alabama Man Charged with Murder Has Ties to State Republican Politics.” Al, 8 Mar. 2024, https://www.al.com/news/2024/03/north-alabama-man-charged-with-murder-has-ties-to-state-republican-politics.html.
