Family horrified that ongoing domestic violence led to death of up-and-coming Pullman chef, 25

Mar. 28—Jamie Wilson-Spray was changing her life.

She was three weeks out from completing her master's degree at Washington State University and working as a chef. The 25-year-old was an involved aunt and there for her friends, her sisters said.

"My boys were her world," said one of her sisters, Jessica Schneider. "The most loving aunt."

She was also leaving a toxic marriage, but doing her best to keep the peace.

On Tuesday evening, Wilson-Spray's estranged husband burst into the travel trailer where she was staying and strangled her, police allege in court records.

Jacob Spray, 36, is jailed on suspicion of second-degree murder and third-degree assault.

"I dropped to the floor and knew he had something to do with it," Schneider said of finding out her sister was dead. "I knew."

'She just had so much life to go live'

Wilson-Spray grew up in Tekoa, Washington, with her four siblings.

Her oldest sister, Amber Moore, said she was outgoing and goal-oriented.

"She just had so much life to go live," Moore said.

Wilson-Spray moved to Pullman for college but remained close to her family, especially her nephews and nieces, Schneider said.

She also maintained an adventurous spirit, Moore said, at one point moving to Mississippi for a job that looked fun.

"She liked to go try new things, and she wanted to go learn Southern cooking, so she did it," Moore said.

Wilson-Spray played music, including the guitar.

"She could learn to play any instrument she picked up within minutes," Moore said.

The weekend before her death was spent writing songs with Schneider.

She was also handy and crafty, always offering to help fix or build things, Moore said.

"She'd figure out how to do it, how to build it, how to make it," Moore said. "She could do anything."

Wilson-Spray was an up-and-coming chef, always chasing new opportunities. She worked at the Black Cyprus for a time and up at Crave!, the food festival in Spokane Valley.

"She wanted to eventually open up her own restaurant," Schneider said, and was always looking to learn more and improve things. "She was a perfectionist."

She married Spray in 2019. Their relationship began to sour, and he became controlling, Moore and Schneider said.

"He was mean, he was controlling and she would talk to me about it," Schneider said.

A history of violence

Wilson-Spray had left her husband about six weeks before her death, the sisters said. The relationship had been emotionally abusive for a while, but a violent altercation a few months ago pushed Wilson-Spray to leave, Schneider said.

Schneider's husband went to pick up Wilson-Spray, who was covered in bruises and had been maced by Spray, Schneider said. Wilson-Spray stayed with her sister for a week and officially ended the relationship not long after.

Pullman Police Officer Ryan McNannay said in court records he had interacted with the couple on March 3, when Spray called police to have officers oversee Wilson-Spray moving out of their shared residence.

Spray wanted a police presence to "prevent any issues," according to McNannay's report.

McNannay was informed that the couple had a history of violent disputes, but neither party would elaborate any further.

Wilson-Spray stayed with a friend in Tekoa for a few weeks but eventually moved into her travel trailer at Sevdy's Modern View Mobile Court on Pullman's Military Hill to be closer to work.

Schneider said Spray continued to call her sister frequently.

The last day

On Tuesday, Schneider talked to Wilson-Spray nearly a dozen times, the norm for them in recent weeks. Wilson-Spray had ordered a chicken-bacon-ranch pizza and was sitting down for a remote job interview when she hung up with Schneider.

"We said goodbye and we said we loved each other," Schneider said.

Wilson-Spray was on the phone interviewing with a potential employer from Spokane when the employer heard her scream, according to court documents.

The interviewer, whose name is not in court records, then heard a scuffle, and the call disconnected, according to a report by Pullman Police officer Doug Anderson.

The would-be employer attempted to contact Wilson-Spray repeatedly before calling 911. The call was then transferred from Spokane dispatchers to Whitman County, where officers initiated a welfare check.

Pullman police first contacted Jacob Spray in an attempt to locate her.

Spray asked what was going on and said he still deeply loved Wilson-Spray, according to court records.

Officers arrived at the RV about 40 minutes after the initial welfare call. They then attempted to contact her again and could hear her cellphone ringing inside the trailer, according to documents.

Anderson called Spray again, asking if there was any way to enter the home without having to break in. Officers opened a window and fished Wilson-Spray's keys out from a table, according to court documents.

When officers entered the trailer, they found Wilson-Spray with bruises and a cut on her neck, indicating that she had been choked, and blood pooling around her body, police said. She appeared to be dead, officers said.

It was extremely hot inside the trailer because a stove burner had been left on at full heat, according to court documents.

Paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but Wilson-Spray was pronounced dead on scene.

Wilson-Spray's neighbor said she had seen a red SUV outside the residence and a Domino's pizza being delivered just before hearing a scream from the trailer. The neighbor then left the neighborhood and returned during the investigation.

Police contacted the delivery driver, who told them he had delivered the pizza to a tall man at the trailer who seemed "off" and "nervous," court documents said.

Then Spray's father informed police that Spray had called and confessed to killing his wife, according to court documents. Spray's father did not know how Spray had killed his wife.

Throughout the initial investigation, Spray had been texting Anderson and asking for updates.

Anderson asked Spray to meet them at the police department, but Spray said he had been drinking and shouldn't drive.

Instead, he asked officers to meet at his house, and texted Anderson, "Lights off plz ;)."

When police arrived at Spray's residence, he began telling them information about Wilson-Spray that made officers believe he was "trying to lay the foundation as the victim's death was an accident," according to police.

Spray told police that Wilson-Spray had a drug problem and probably overdosed, and that the trailer had a propane problem, without being prompted. When an officer attempted to ask Spray about his confession to his father, Spray fled inside his duplex.

Officers tackled Spray to the ground, where Spray repeatedly made attempts to steal an officer's handgun, police said.

Spray was then shocked with a Taser and handcuffed, and requested to be seen by a medical professional. Officers later discovered there were multiple firearms in the room that Spray was running toward, according to court documents.

Spray was treated for his injuries and taken to the Pullman Police Department before being transferred to Whitman County Jail Wednesday morning.

As of Thursday evening, Spray was being held in Whitman County Jail with no bond.

Sabrina Vachris is a student at Washington State University's Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.