In a grim discovery, the body of 26-year-old Neko Rayton was found in a bathtub in a Utica, New York, apartment on a Saturday in November 2023. Police were initially called to the residence after a downstairs neighbor reported what appeared to be blood leaking from their ceiling. Upon arrival, officers confirmed the substance was indeed blood and proceeded to the upstairs apartment to conduct a welfare check.
When officers knocked, a man, later identified as 25-year-old Colton Shaffer,
emerged covered in blood before quickly locking the door behind him. He was immediately taken into custody. Inside the apartment, investigators found a gruesome scene with a large amount of blood and evidence that something had been dragged through the dwelling. Further investigation led to the discovery of Rayton's body in the bathtub. An autopsy revealed that Rayton had been shot multiple times, stabbed repeatedly, and had sustained other injuries. A criminal complaint later specified that he had been shot twice in the head and stabbed in the torso, face, and neck with a knife.
Colton Shaffer was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Authorities indicated that Shaffer and Rayton were known to be associates, but a motive for the violent altercation was not immediately clear as Shaffer declined to speak with investigators. Records from the New York Department of Corrections showed that Shaffer had been released from prison in September 2022 after serving just over a year for a burglary conviction.
Neko Rayton was born on August 27, 1997. He was a father to four sons and one daughter. His family remembered him as a person with a bright spirit who was loved by everyone he met and who deeply loved his children and family. He had a passion for playing basketball and creating music in a studio. Having spent his childhood in both Georgia and New York, he was a member of Rucker's Grove Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia.
