Man sentenced to life for murder of victim dumped on side of Fort Worth road
A 52-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a victim whose body was dumped on the side of a Fort Worth road.
Carlus Qualls admitted to a homicide detective that he dragged the body of 56-year-old Oscar Lavant Payton out of his car on the morning of April 30, 2021, and left Payton’s body on the roadside in the 3200 block of Bourine Street, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram.
Payton, who was from Fort Worth, had been shot in the back of his head, according to prosecutors with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
A jury decided Qualls’ sentence this week in a Tarrant County district court.
Fort Worth police have said that after they found the victim’s body on the day of the killing, Qualls’ name came up as a possible suspect.
Qualls initially told police there was another man in the backseat of his car who shot Payton and then pointed the gun at him, forcing Qualls to move the body. But video obtained by detectives showed there was no other person in Qualls’ car that morning, according to the affidavit.
Someone who was driving by the scene saw Payton’s body and called 911, police said. According to the warrant, that area in west Fort Worth is desolate, there are no homes nearby, and it’s known as a dumping site.
Detectives talked to witnesses and obtained a video that showed a man in a 2011 Toyota with a Texas license plate dragging a body out of the passenger door. Police identified the owner of the car as Qualls.
