By Kristin Senatore
Bryan Kevin Thomas of Sevierville has been arrested and charged in the beating death of 35-year-old Maryville resident Steven Payne.  
Payne’s body was found Thursday after 8 p.m. in his apartment at 221 West Broadway Street in downtown Maryville.
According to Maryville Chief of Police Tony Crisp, Steven Payne died on Wednesday morning.  His family called police when he didn’t show up for Thanksgiving dinner.  
When police arrived, Payne’s car was there and the door to the apartment was locked.   Once they got in, they found Payne’s deceased body on the couch.
Thomas and Payne knew each other after growing up on the same street in Maryville.  Detectives believe that Payne picked up Thomas and his female companion the night he was murdered.
A flat screen television and blu-ray player was stolen from the residence.  Those items were later recovered from a South Knoxville apartment.  They had been exchanged for crack cocaine.
Thomas was arrested on Friday in Maryville.  Several warrants were out for his arrest for violations of probation.  He is being held on $750,000 bond, and a preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 7 at 9 a.m.

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