Compton Teacher Held in Slaying of Ex-Wife

As their sons waited in his car, a teacher from Compton walked up to the door of his former wife’s home in Spokane, Wash., on Christmas Day and killed her with a blast from a sawed-off shotgun, police reported.

Raymond Valentine Brytan, 46, was in Spokane to visit his sons, ages 5 and 9, Spokane police said. They identified Brytan as a fifth-grade teacher in the Compton School District and a resident of Huntington Beach.

“It happened in a few seconds,” said Police Sgt. Gene Ziegler. “Brytan drove up to the house, and went to the door. His former wife came to the door, and he pointed a .12-gauge sawed-off shotgun at her and shot her in the right side of the stomach.”

Vera A. Perry, 43, died on the spot.

Ziegler said Brytan fired a second shotgun blast into Perry’s home, but police are not sure whether that shot was aimed at her current husband, Michael Perry, who was inside. The shot missed Michael Perry, but he later suffered head cuts from the shotgun as he struggled to pull the weapon away from Brytan, Ziegler said.

Brytan fled the house after the shooting, Ziegler said, but neighbors seized him and held him until police arrived. The two boys were cared for by a neighbor and then taken by their stepfather after he returned from the hospital for treatment of his head cuts, police said.

Ziegler said Brytan was charged with first-degree murder. Police said they did not know how long Brytan had been divorced or details of the custody arrangement.