Stephen McNeil Wiki – Stephen McNeil Bio
Stephen McNeil arrested by police following the death of Danielle Hopton of Fort Collins. He appeared in Larimer County District Court on Friday morning.
Friday afternoon, Fort Collins Police Services announced the arrest of a second person, Ian Rayas, also 20, of Timnath.
Age
He is 20 years old.
Danielle Hopton Death
Danielle Hopton is a native of Colorado and animal shelter volunteer who was beaten to death in a parking lot earlier this month, police said.
Authorities said they responded to a report of an “unconscious, injured woman” in an apartment building’s parking lot in Fort Collins, north of Denver, on February 6, 2021.
Stephen McNeil Arrested
Police arrested McNeil at noon the next day.
Rayas was questioned by investigators but denied knowing either McNeil or Hopton or anything that happened between them that night, police stated.
But investigators found “evidence to the contrary” and arrested him Thursday.
McNeil is being held for investigation of 1st Degree Murder, Domestic Violence, Violation of a Protection Order, and Violation of Bail Bond Conditions.
The coroner’s office has not yet determined a cause of death. But in a press release from Fort Collins Police Services, her injuries were described as the result of an assault.
“This heinous act of violence took a woman’s life and forever changed the lives of her loved ones,” stated Investigations Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce in FCPS’s press release.
Criminal Record
CBS4 discovered through a search of online criminal records that McNeil was arrested in mid-December for a felony assault that involved strangulation.
He was also arrested in January was for misdemeanour criminal mischief.
McNeil bonded out of jail on Jan. 22 via cash bonds totalling $2,650.
