TRIGGER WARNING: The following story may be distressing to some readers as it tackles topics such as suicide and domestic violence.
Jamie Felix, a 45-year-old teacher from Florida, was kidnapped by her estranged husband, who then fatally shot her in a parking lot in front of their two underaged children before fleeing and eventually turning the gun on himself as police closed in.
According to Fox News Digital, first responders found the boys—aged 17 and 10—unharmed, sitting with their mother, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Felix taught at Manatee Academy K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, where she was named "Teacher of the Year," according to the school's social media posts.
It was revealed that Felix and her estranged husband, 60-year-old Ray Felix, were going through a messy divorce that reportedly included previous incidents of domestic violence prior to her murder on March 29.
It was revealed that Ray was armed and in disguise when he snuck up on Jamie and their children in a parking lot in Port St. Lucie in the late afternoon. He allegedly forced them into his rental car and sent a "suspicious email to her coworkers," acting Police Chief Richard Del Toro said during a press conference.
"The email, from what I understand, was basically that she had lied about the domestic violence incident, which we know not to be true," Del Toro said.
Jamie's coworkers called the police at around 18:30. Still, the situation had already escalated, as by that time, Ray had already forced his 17-year-old son to drive his rental car following his mother's SUV, which she was driving at gunpoint. The youngest son was seated in the back of the SUV.
Read Also: Oklahoma Killer Michael Smith Maintains Innocence In Final Hours Before Execution
They finally pulled into a parking lot near a hotel "for unknown reasons," West Palm Beach Police spokesman Mike Jachles told local newspaper TCPalm.
Then, the estranged couple got out of the car, and Ray fired multiple shots at Jamie before fleeing the scene in the rental car.
Ray eventually returned the car to the rental agency and shot himself as police approached him. He was taken to hospital for emergency surgery but died three hours later.
Family, friends, coworkers, and students paid tribute to Jamie on social media and her obituary.
"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," a friend of hers wrote a tribute post on Facebook. "She was incredibly brave and resilient. She had the most amazingly contagious laugh, especially when something delighted her."
