A beloved teacher in Florida, Jamie Felix, was found dead after she was kidnapped by him. According to the shocking reports of the incident that emerged, the estranged husband kidnapped the 45-year-old Felix and, as the police closed in on them, turned his firearm on her and then himself. Fortunately, the two kids, aged 10 and 17, were unharmed, though they were, horrifically, found sitting with their murdered mother.
Fox News Digital, reporting on the horrible situation, notes that Felix was going through a messy divorce with Ray Felix, fifteen years her senior, at the time she was kidnapped and murdered. Their terrible relationship reportedly included instances of domestic violence.
Further, Fox News Digital reports that Ray kidnapped Jamie and her children when they were in a parking lot in Port St. Lucie at about 4 in the afternoon. After heading off with them, he reportedly sent a “suspicious email to her coworkers.” They then reported the email to police, but by then things were already headed in a bad direction fast.
After kidnapping the family members, Ray reportedly forced Jamie to drive her SUV with a gun pointed at her head while the 10-year-old child sat in the backseat of the car. Ray reportedly forced the 17-year-old to follow behind them in a rental car, and the convoy headed to West Palm Beach.
Tragedy came once they made it to the West Palm Beach vicinity. There, they pulled into a hotel parking lot and, as Ray and Jamie got out of the SUV, Ray fired at Jamie multiple times, killing her. He then sped off in the rental car, leaving the children with their deceased mother. The police later tracked down Ray and he turned his firearm on himself as they closed in.
Social media erupted in mourning and praise for the murdered teacher, who, according to the Manatee Academy K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Florida, was “Teacher of the Year.” In an October of 2023 post, the school wrote, “A very special congratulations to our employees of the year! School Related Employee Mrs. Suarez, Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Felix, Outstanding First Year Teacher Coach Tassone, and Distinguished Minority Educator of the Year, Mrs. Williams. Thank you for your dedication to the students at Manatee Academy!”
One of her friends, for example, wrote, “Jamie Bukoski 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, especially when something delighted her, she was genuinely thankful for every kindness she received, she was brilliant but humble (she had absolutely no idea how gifted and beautiful she was), she was fun and funny and witty and could make me cry with laughter, she was compassionate, she was loyal and dedicated, she was a girl’s girl who lifted up her friends at every opportunity.”
That friend continued, “I do not want social media posts about her to be dominated by her most unimaginably tragic moment. So if you knew her, please comment below with something you loved about her, a memory you have about her, a story about how she touched your life (or message me if you don’t want to share publicly). If you know someone who knew her, please tag them below. I want to put together all of these words from the people whose lives she touched so that her boys and family can read them.”
Featured image credit: Monica Jackman Facebook
