photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Daequan J. Rayton

A Topeka man who was charged with attempted first-degree murder after a shooting on New Year’s Day was ordered Monday to stand trial in Douglas County District Court.

The man, Daequan Jermaine Rayton, 24, was charged in connection with a Jan. 1 shooting at The Outhouse, a rural nightclub at 1837 North 1500 Road. After a preliminary hearing Monday, Judge Stacey Donovan determined that enough evidence existed to bind Rayton over for trial on the attempted murder charge, plus an aggravated assault charge.

The victim of the shooting, Justin Vincent, took the witness stand Monday and quietly described his evening up to the moment he found himself in a hospital emergency room.

“I had a chunk of my large intestine removed,” Vincent said of the aftermath of being shot.

He told the court that he got off work around 9 p.m. and went to a party with his brothers; after that party was over, he, his fiancée and some friends headed to The Outhouse around 12:45 p.m. He said that he had been drinking and was about half drunk when he went to the club.

The club has a stage for adult entertainers, and Vincent said he sat near the stage and soon made eye contact with Rayton. He said Rayton suggested that they go “dollar-for-dollar” on a dancer.

“He was just looking at me,” Vincent said. “It was like a messed-up peace offering.”

Rayton’s defense attorney, Nicholas David, asked what Vincent meant by a peace offering, but Vincent said they had no prior dealings. He said he had brought $1,000 cash to the club and that he didn’t trust the way Rayton was looking at him.

Vincent said that he had a stack of $100 in single dollar bills that he started throwing at a dancer who was between him and Rayton.

Vincent’s fiancée testified that that is when she stepped in.

“When I caught wind of what was happening, I said it was time to go,” she said.

The fiancée said that she saw the two men locking eyes and she could tell an altercation was about to start. She said they were flinging dollar bills at each other, and they weren’t watching the dancer as they did it.

The fiancée said she then confronted Vincent and started pushing him out of the club, reminding him that they had children at home to worry about. She said she pushed Vincent all the way outside and to their car, which was parked in the far end of the parking lot.

She said that Rayton and some of his friends followed closely behind.

A friend of Vincent’s testified that she also saw the tense moment between Vincent and Rayton. She said that she could see animosity between the two; she said she could tell by the awkward smiles they were making toward each other.

The friend said that she followed Vincent and his fiancée out of the club and tried to use her body in the doorway to slow down the stream of people leaving the bar but that when Rayton went to leave he picked her up and moved her out of the way and exited the club toward Vincent.

Vincent said that’s when he got hit for the first time. He said he was at his vehicle with his fiancée trying to push him into the car when he felt someone strike him in the head.

The fiancée told Vincent she thought it was Rayton who hit him but she saw only a shadow of a swing, she said. Once Vincent thought it was Rayton who hit him, she knew she would not be able to control him, she said.

The friend testified that’s when she heard Vincent say, “Daequan stole on me.”

“Stole” in this context meant that Daequan hit him, she said.

The friend said the parking lot was getting crowded and it was after 2 a.m. She said Vincent ran around the car and hit Rayton in the process, which made Rayton take a step back. Vincent then rejoined her, the fiancée and another friend who were all trying to get Vincent to get in the car and leave, she said.

She said she then saw Rayton lift his shirt and pull out a gun.

“He lifted it and shot two times in my direction,” the friend said. “I dropped to the ground because I didn’t know who got shot.”

Vincent testified that he helped the friend up because he thought she had been shot, but he soon realized he was the one bleeding. He said he didn’t see the gun or who shot it.

“I just got shot, drive me to the hospital,” Vincent said he told his fiancée.

David, Rayton’s defense attorney, said that Rayton was just defending himself after Vincent had punched him outside of the club.

Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald argued during the hearing that Rayton had premeditated the shooting. He said Rayton had time to think about shooting Vincent as he left the club and even had to move someone out of the doorway to get to Vincent.

Greenwald said that Rayton could not claim self-defense because he followed Vincent out of the club and threw the first punch.

“The victim returned the favor,” Greenwald said about Vincent punching Rayton.

Greenwald added that by firing the gun twice Rayton made his intentions clear that he wanted to kill Vincent.

Greenwald asked the judge to allow him to add an aggravated assault charge to the case for the fear that Rayton caused Vincent’s friend who witnessed the shooting; the judge allowed the added charge.

The judge concluded there was enough evidence to move forward with a trial, which caused Rayton to groan as he looked at the ceiling.

“No,” he said.

The defense then asked for a reduced bond. David said the current $500,000 bond was abnormally high for someone with Rayton’s minimal criminal history. The judge refused the request.

Rayton was convicted of a misdemeanor — interference with parental custody — in 2020 and was sentenced to 12 months, which was suspended to probation. He was released from supervision on that charge on Jan. 13, 2022, according to court records.

Rayton remains in custody at the Douglas County Jail on the $500,000 bond and is scheduled for a jury trial on Sept. 12.

As the Journal-World previously reported, Rayton was originally apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service on Jan. 14. He was transferred to the Douglas County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of aggravated battery and attempted first-degree murder.

The aggravated battery charge stems from a separate case. Rayton was also charged for an incident that occurred on Aug. 1. He is accused of knowingly causing bodily harm to a different man and has a $50,000 bond in that case.