A disturbed husband in Florida fatally shot his wife, who was a school teacher, in front of their two children in a hotel parking lot over the weekend. He then left his children in the parking lot with their mother's body and drove away to commit suicide.
According to the police in Port Lucie, Ray Felix abducted Jamie Felix and their 17 and 10-year-old sons on Friday evening. According to WPEC, he forced the three of them into his rental car and confronted his wife about their pending divorce. He also forced Jamie Felix to send an email to her coworkers at Manatee K-8 Academy, the contents of which were so unusual that the coworkers called the police.
Meanwhile, the enraged husband made the 17-year-old son drive his mother's car while holding Jamie Felix at gunpoint in the rental car, leading them to the Quality Inn near Palm Beach International Airport. according to WPBF.
There, Jamie Felix got out of the car, and her husband shot her in the parking lot.
Ray Felix then left his two sons behind and drove to a rental car place, where he dropped off the rental car.
“(Ray Felix) dropped that car off and was off the property when officers found him at which time he pulled out a gun and fired a single shot to his head,” said West Palm Beach Police Department public information officer Mike Jachles.
Felix didn’t die right away, Jachles said. He was rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he eventually died.
Jamie Felix, 45, was teacher at Manatee K-8 Academy. Her friends and co-workers mourned her loss.
“Jamie Felix is a beautiful soul who will live forever in the hearts of those who love her. She loved her children to depths that words can’t express, she was incredibly brave and resilient, she had the most amazingly contagious laugh,” said Monica Jackman. “She was compassionate, she was loyal and dedicated, she was a girl’s girl who lifted up her friends at every opportunity.”
St. Lucie Public Schools said that Felix “brought joy, passion, and dedication to her students and the staff at Manatee and she will be greatly missed.”
The school district said it would make grief counselors available for students as staff “for as long as needed.”
[Featured image: Jamie Felix/handout]