Wesley Rayton Sr. charged with murder in death of Topeka tow truck driver Michael Comp
A tow truck driver was found deceased in that truck last week after a single gunshot passed through its rear window in southeast Topeka, Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said Tuesday.
He announced his office had charged Wesley Tyrone Rayton Sr., 47, with crimes that included the first-degree murder of Michael Robert Comp, 40.
Kagay said Comp was found deceased after law enforcement officers were called Jan. 31 to the area of 915 S.E. 34h on reports that a man in the street was shooting at a tow truck, which then crashed.
Officers determined the tow truck had hit a mailbox and come to rest in the backyard at 919 S.E. 33rd Terrace, where Comp was found deceased inside, Kagay said.
He said officers responding to the scene stopped a vehicle that was fleeing the area and arrested the driver. Rayton was being held Tuesday in the Shawnee County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to jail records.
Court records showed Kagay's office had charged Rayton with one count each of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony, aggravated assault, the theft of a firearm and the criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle.
Rayton served prison time for aggravated battery committed in April 1995 in Shawnee County, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.
Comp was Topeka's seventh homicide victim in January. The seven homicide victims was Topeka's highest for one month since it saw seven in August 2016.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Murder charge filed in gunshot killing of Topeka tow truck driver
