Estranged husband kills wife near West Palm hotel parking lot, then kills self, police say

WEST PALM BEACH — A Port St. Lucie middle school math teacher was shot and killed Friday night outside a hotel by her estranged husband, a former middle school employee who police say abducted her and their two children before killing himself as officers closed in.

Jamie Rae Felix, 45, was shot by her husband Ray Felix, 60, in front of her two sons, ages 17 and 10, in the parking lot of the Quality Inn Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach police said Saturday.

Jamie Rae Felix taught 8th-grade algebra at Manatee Academy in Port St. Lucie.

According to Port St. Lucie police, Jamie Felix and her sons were leaving what police said was a recreational business in the 9000 block of South U.S. 1 in Port St. Lucie and walking to her vehicle, a Chevy SUV, when they were approached by Ray Felix around 4 p.m.

Wearing a disguise and armed with a gun, he ordered them into his rental car and then instructed Jamie to send an email that "concerned (her) coworkers," said Master Sgt. Dominick Mesiti, spokesman for the Port St. Lucie Police. Mesiti said he did not know the contents of the message. But Port St. Lucie police began investigating the case at about 6:30 p.m. after receiving calls from co-workers concerned about Jamie Felix's email.

Mesiti said the Felixes argued about their ongoing divorce and left in the rental car, but then drove back to the U.S. 1 business. Holding Jamie at gunpoint, Ray Felix told the 17-year-old and the 10-year-old to follow him in the rental car, a white Nissan, while he forced Jamie, still at gunpoint, to drive to West Palm Beach in her Chevy SUV, police said.

The two vehicles drove to West Palm Beach and were beginning to return to St. Lucie County when the SUV pulled into the Quality Inn on Belvedere Road near the airport, West Palm Beach Police spokesman Mike Jachles said. "For reasons we don’t know, (it) veered into (the) Quality Inn parking lot," Jachles said Saturday.

In the hotel parking lot, Jachles said Jamie and Ray both got out of the SUV, at which time he shot her and left the scene in the rental car. West Palm Beach police were called about a shooting in the hotel parking lot and arrived just after 7:30 p.m. to find Jamie Felix lying on the ground, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Fire-rescue workers were unable to revive Felix, and pronounced her dead at the scene. West Palm Beach police recovered the two sons, who were still on the scene, unharmed.

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Ray Felix then returned the white Nissan to the rental agency, where officers found him about a quarter-mile from the business, also off Belvedere Road, Jachles said.

Jachles said as several officers approached him, Ray Felix shot himself in the head. "No officers fired any shots or anything," he said. "He appeared intent on one thing, and that’s taking his life."

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Ray Felix was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center and died about three hours after emergency surgery, Jachles said.

Court records show a divorce was underway. A judge's order prohibited Ray Felix from having contact with Jamie Felix and one of their children. Ray Felix was charged with battery in October 2023 following a reported violent episode at their Northwest Rose Petal Court home.

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Police records list Ray Felix's occupation as a Manatee Academy dean's clerk. Social media posts by the school show he was named school employee of the year several times.

In the police report, Jamie Felix told officers Ray was "very manipulative" and was retired from law enforcement, "so he knew how to play the police."

Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow @coreyarwood on X, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Port St. Lucie man shoots, kills estranged wife, then kills himself