By many measures, they were a smart, accomplished and successful couple.

James R. Ray III, 55, has an MBA from Long Island University, a law degree from the University of New Hampshire and a firm with a Manhattan address. He owns a stately six-bedroom stucco home in Upper Montclair, one of the wealthiest ZIP codes in New Jersey.

Angela Bledsoe, 44, was a financial adviser who'd worked with JPMorgan Chase and most recently Securities America in New York. She was also a high-profile leader with her service society and college alumni organization.

She'd owned a home in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, but had recently moved into Ray's home with their 6-year-old daughter, Alana.

On Tuesday morning Bledsoe's lifeless body, with multiple gunshot wounds, was carried out of the couple's home on North Mountain Avenue, and Ray is on the run in his BMW 328i, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. He's charged with her death.

"This is very shocking," said Rodneyse Bichotte, a New York State assemblywoman from Brooklyn, who worked with Bledsoe as a volunteer. "She was someone I adored, just adored. She was an awesome, beautiful and intelligent person."

Conversations with grieving members of Bledsoe's tight social network of Florida A&M alumni and Delta Sigma Theta sisters paint a portrait of a woman who was strong, whip-smart and an inspirational leader.

Bichotte, then a Wall Street banker, and Bledsoe, a financial adviser, met in 2005 at a meeting of Delta Sigma Theta, a social service organization that emphasizes programs that benefit the African-American community.

"We bonded over taking our Series 7 [securities trading licensing exam] and conducting financial literacy and home-ownership workshops for the community," Bichotte said.

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A young role model

"Angela was the chair of Delta Sigma Theta's economic development committee," said Bichotte. "She was very successful and independent, but also modest, humble and quiet. And she was very, very smart."

At the time, Bledsoe was an adviser with AXA life insurance company and one of the firm's top producers, Bichotte said.

"She was young and owned her own home. How many can do that in New York City?"

Bichotte says Bledsoe inspired her to seek higher office.

"Angela was a role model for me; she moved up to be treasurer of the organization and opened up the path for me to be committee chair, which gave me a platform to run for Assembly."

A man with a past

Around that time, Bledsoe became a new mother. She gave birth to Alana in 2012.

Bichotte met Bledsoe's boyfriend and the baby's father, James Ray III, several times, she said.

"I don't know what their arrangement was, but it seemed like a close relationship," she said.

What Bichotte didn't know — and it's unclear if Bledsoe knew — is that Ray was also in a long-term marriage with a woman named Cheryl. According to 2013 court documents, the couple had two children together, Chelsey and James, who would now be in their 20s.

That year, Ray was sued for sexual harassment by a paralegal who worked for him. Sabrina Rafi claimed that Ray talked to her at length about pornography and told her he was a polygamist and intended to make her his “third wife,” according to the complaint. The case was settled for $35,000.

According to a report in the New Jersey Law Journal, Ray had also been married previously to another woman, named Leslie Renee Adams.

In 2014, Ray sued a New Jersey judge over her handling of a financial dispute between Ray and Adams, by then his ex-wife. The case was ultimately dismissed.

A more recent court case involving Ray was the high-profile trial of Jelani Maraj, 38, the brother of rapper Nicki Minaj, who'd been accused of repeatedly raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter.

Ray, who said he'd been hired by the victim's mother, testified that he called Maraj's attorney demanding $25 million to resolve the case, according to NY Newsday. When the lawyer told him Maraj had no money, Ray asked about his rap-star sister, according to the article.

The defense characterized the demand as extortion. Ray said the alleged victim’s mother fired him over the incident.

Low profile in Montclair

At the time of the 2013 sexual harassment lawsuit, Bledsoe was working in Ray's Park Avenue office, where she'd been managing his insurance sales business as he transitioned to practicing law.

It's unclear exactly when Bledsoe and her daughter moved into Ray's Montclair home, or where her daughter attended school. Neighbors on North Mountain Avenue say they had little contact with the couple.

Dina Perez-Handy, a college friend who now lives in Atlanta, said Bledsoe's life revolved around her daughter and that they were active in Jack & Jill of America, an African-American family organization.

The Girls Scouts of America said Bledsoe was also a "cookie mom" with their Northern New Jersey chapter, but no neighbors could recall seeing her or her daughter out selling cookies.

One neighbor says she tried to have a conversation with Bledsoe when their daughters, who knew each other from Sharon Miller Dance Academy in Montclair, started chatting on the sidewalk near her house.

“It seemed as if she deliberately did not want to chat,” said Anat Soudry, who lives across the street. "It left a weird impression on me."

Soudry said that the Montclair police, who questioned her after Bledsoe's death, asked if she thought Bledsoe may have been scared.

“In retrospect, that may have been it," said Soudry. "I did register it as not being normal."

Reginald Mitchell, a close friend who traveled with Bledsoe as an officer of Florida A&M's national alumni association, said he and Bledsoe were close but he knew little or nothing about her relationship with Ray.

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Mitchell is also friends with Bledsoe's sister, Lisa LaBoo, an investment adviser in Florida and FAMU alumna who, he said, recently donated $100,000 to the school.

"I knew Angela had a daughter and that biologically it came from somewhere, but a lot of people, including me, didn't know she lived with the father of her child," he said.

But he also said Bledsoe showed no signs of any relationship problems.

"We were absolutely shocked when we found out the news. It never would have occurred to me that she was abused or that she would even have taken any abuse," he said.

"She was no-nonsense when it came to business matters, and friendly when it came to other matters," said Mitchell, who described Bledsoe as 'extroverted.'

Ray was more of a presence on the Montclair social scene, according to George Marable, owner of the DLV Lounge, a bar and music venue on Bloomfield Avenue.

"He would come in two or three times nights a week at eight or nine," said Marable, though rarely with Bledsoe.

Marable expressed shock at the accusations against Ray, whom he describes as a "good friend" who would occasionally have him over to his North Mountain Avenue house for a "beer in the backyard."

He said Ray was not a big drinker and he didn't notice any anger issues or anything out of the ordinary.

A patron of the DLV lounge recalled seeing Ray there a couple of times.

"The last time I saw him we exchanged numbers. We were just hanging out listening to jazz and making small talk. He was trying to talk me into buying the DLV from George. He invited me to some birthday party he was having at his house.

"Unfortunately I was traveling and wasn't going to be able to come, but I said, 'Thanks for the invite.'

"That was the last time I talked to him. He texted me Merry Christmas or maybe it was my birthday, something like that.

"I remember texting back, 'Thanks, man, next time I'm in New Jersey we have to have a beer at the DLV."







