A 31-year-old African American man, Danueal Drayton, has been arraigned before a court in New York after a grand jury indicted him of brutally murdering a date he found on Tinder and raping her corpse.
Drayton was indicted by the Queens County grand jury and arraigned before the Queens Supreme Court, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday.
She said that the defendant was arraigned before Justice Kenneth C. Holder on an 18-count indictment including murder, sexual misconduct, grand larceny,identity theft in the second and third degree, unlawful possession of personal identification information in the third degree and criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree.
Drayton, formerly of New Haven, Connecticut, allegedly killed 29-year-old Samantha Stewart after a date in July 2018.
According to the charges, the duo met on Tinder and went on a date on July 16, 2018. After the date, they headed to her home on 145th Road, Springfield Gardens, Queens. Sometime that day, the defendant allegedly beat and strangled the 29-year-old nurse and then engaged in sexual conduct with the dead body.
Samantha’s brother found her corpse wrapped in a blanket in the corner of her bedroom on July 17, 2018.
The defendant was said to have taken Samantha’s credit cards after killing her.
He then fled the scene in a white van that was found at New York’s Kennedy International Airport a day later.
The defendant allegedly bought a ticket to California using one of Ms. Stewart’s credit cards but was apprehended in Los Angeles, California, on July 24, 2018, by members of the New York Police Department (NYPD)’s Fugitive Task Force.
The defendant faces up to 25 years in prison.
Justice Holder adjourned the case until May 23, 2022 for hearing.
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