While awaiting sentencing for the 2018 murder of his girlfriend, Angela Bledsoe, James Ray III, a 60-year-old lawyer from New Jersey, passed away. University Hospital in Newark declared Ray dead following a medical emergency after he was found unresponsive in his cell.
In their Montclair home, Ray shot Bledsoe, claiming self-defense because she was about to leave. In May 2023, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and weapons charges, and he faced a jail sentence of 30–life years. Arrival back in the United States in November 2018 put an end to Ray’s brief fugitive effort, which involved escaping to Cuba and Mexico.
The defense team representing Ray, a former Marine and police officer in New York City, has described the terrible conclusion of their client’s life as a “tragic ending to a tragic story.”
James Ray III Cause of Death
The convicted killer James Ray III passed away on June 18, 2023, while serving his sentence for the murder of his lover, Angela Bledsoe. Ray was declared dead during a medical emergency at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, following his discovery in unconsciousness in his cell at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey.
The official cause of death for James Ray III has not been determined as of December 8, 2023, because the autopsy was not yet finished. No foul play was found, but an investigation is still underway, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The Medical Examiner’s Office was supposed to decide on the official cause of death.
The murder trial of Angela Bledsoe was supposed to conclude with Ray’s sentencing on June 22, 2023. Updates were anticipated as the inquiry continued into the circumstances of his death and the results of the autopsy.
What was James Ray III Convicted of?
In 2018, at the age of 55, Ray was found guilty of the murder of 44-year-old Bledsoe, which occurred in their home in Upper Montclair. Following a six-week trial, the verdict was announced on Friday, May 12, 2023, according to NorthJersey.com.
On October 23, 2018, the couple’s kitchen was where Montclair police discovered Bledsoe’s lifeless body. Representing the state in this case, Michelle Miller stated, “there was blood all over the place.”
The outlet continues: “Bledsoe had been shot in the chest in the living room, then staggered to the kitchen, bleeding profusely, where Ray then shot her in the back and face.”
In contrast to defense counsel Brooke Barnett’s argument that Bledsoe had drawn a revolver on Ray and was threatening him, Miller asserted that the murder scene had been “staged.”
She said: “If that gun had been in Angela’s hand there would have been blood all over it, too. That gun was placed there, it wasn’t dropped, kicked or slid.”
For further information, obituaries, autopsy reports, and details regarding other people’s causes of death, you can visit our website, lakecountyfloridanews.com.
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