A Bowling Green man charged with murder in connection with a deadly stabbing on Johnson Drive was arraigned Tuesday in Warren Circuit Court.

Dionadre Irving Payne, 20, made his first court appearance since his indictment on a charge of murder in the Nov. 18 death of Ryan Porter, 25, of Louisville.

Attorney Kevin Croslin, representing Payne, entered a not guilty plea on his client’s behalf, and Payne was ordered to return to court March 27 by Warren Circuit Judge Steve Wilson.

Payne is accused of fatally stabbing Porter during a confrontation. 

A co-defendant, 41-year-old Anthony L. Johnson of Bowling Green, is accused of disposing of the knife after the homicide. Johnson has pleaded not guilty to a charge of tampering with physical evidence.

Payne and Johnson were arrested Nov. 19 after the Bowling Green Police Department obtained arrest warrants for both men.

According to court records, witnesses at a Johnson Drive residence reported seeing Payne run into the house through the front door shortly before the slaying. One of the witnesses told police that Payne appeared to have a hunting knife in his hand when he left the bathroom of the house.

Another witness told city police that she had heard an argument outside involving Payne, Johnson and a third man she did not know. During the argument, the third man demanded money from Payne, who then came into the house and locked himself in the bathroom, according to a criminal complaint from BGPD Detective Melissa Wartak.

The unknown male came to the screened-in door and yelled for Payne to come outside, saying that Payne owed him money, according to court records.

“(The witness) stated that the unknown, light-skinned black male then tried to take (Payne’s) dog,” Wartak wrote in the complaint.

Payne then reportedly left through the back of the house and came around to outside the front where a fight reportedly ensued.

One of the witnesses told police that she saw Payne holding a knife that appeared to be wrapped in tissues just before the fight, and that Payne “made numerous stabbing and slashing motions with the knife during the altercation,” court records show.

Payne is in Warren County Regional Jail under a $500,000 cash bond.

— Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com