The man suspected of killing a nurse in Queens in July 2018 has been formally charged with murder and extradited to New York City from California Thursday in the 4-year-old murder case of 29-year-old Samantha Stewart. Danuel Drayton, 31, originally from Connecticut, was charged with the strangulation death of Stewart.
NBC New York reported Drayton was quickly hauled into jail last Friday and held without bail after his extradition was completed. He was arraigned in the New York City borough of Queens for the death of Stewart.
According to the New York Post, Drayton has an alleged long history of violence against women, particularly those he meets online. A month prior to the murder of Stewart, Drayton was charged with strangling his ex-girlfriend. Police also reported that the suspect had allegedly sexually assaulted another female victim he met on Tinder just hours after he killed Stewart.
He met up with the other victim in Sunset Park where he was said to have choked and raped her. He then fled to Los Angeles where he was accused of forcible rape and premeditated attempted murder of another woman.
Authorities said Drayton’s laundry list of arrests includes unlawful imprisonment and strangulation. Law enforcement officers caught up with Drayton in a hotel room in North Hollywood weeks after Stewart’s murder, where he was found holding a woman against her will.
While in jail, he told the media how he remembered strangling the female nurse as he went on about hearing voices in his head telling him to harm people. Stewart had gone on a date with Drayton at the time wherein they had visited a race track and shared a pizza. He reassured her that had no intention of hurting her, but soon as they were inside the woman’s apartment in Queens, Drayton began beating her and strangled her as he engaged in sexual conduct with her lifeless body.
District Attorney Melinda Katz said Drayton had tried to resuscitate Steward and used bleach in an attempt to clean up the crime scene. However, the suspect also said he intentionally left behind his Egyptian cologne as trail evidence, hoping the police would link this to his identity. "I wanted to get caught. I took some of her things with me and used them,” he said adding that he had attempted suicide using an overdose of Advil before police were able to apprehend him.
On top of his murder charge, Drayton is also facing charges of grand larceny, identity theft as well as sexual misconduct. He faces a sentence of 25 years to life if found guilty of Stewart’s murder.
