On October 22, 2018, Montclair lawyer, James R. Ray III shot 44-year-old Angela Bledsoe, the mother of his 6-year-old daughter, in the chest, face, and back shortly after she returned home from bringing their daughter to school.
Attorney James Ray then withdrew checks and cash at a local bank, picked up his daughter from school and dropped her off with his brother. He proceeded to travel into Mexico before booking a flight to Cuba. About two weeks later, U.S. law enforcement officials returned Ray to the United States.
The victim had scheduled a meeting with a realtor on the day of her death, planning to move out of the house the two shared. Prior, Ray had spent two years as an officer on the NYPD and had served in the U.S. Marines before earning an M.B.A. and going to law school.
After a six-week trial presided over by the Honorable Verna G. Leath, J.S.C. Essex County Vicinage, the defendant, James Ray III, was convicted of murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. On June 22, 2023, Ray was scheduled to appear before Judge Leath for sentencing, however, days prior the defendant was found dead in his cell.
