Major Crimes Investigates Valley Homicide
SPOKANE VALLEY — Detectives are investigating a homicide outside of a liquor store in Spokane Valley.
The body of 46-year-old Dean Leroy Ray was found just before 8 a.m. Tuesday in front of some businesses in the 5000 block of E. Sprague. A delivery truck driver spotted the man and called police.
Spokane County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dave Reagan says Ray was found in front of a liquor store about ten feet from a wheelchair and about four feet from a coat.
Police say Ray was discharged from the Spokane VA Medical Center Monday morning and he was last seen alive just before midnight on Monday. A witness says another person had pushed him to the row of businesses where he was found around 6:45 p.m.
Detectives are treating it as a homicide because of clues found at the scene, including multiple scuff marks from shoes around the body. They are also searching for the man who was pushing the victim’s wheelchair to interview him about what may have happened Monday evening.
An autopsy was being performed Tuesday afternoon to determine a cause of death.
Police are asking anyone with information, specifically anyone who may have seen Ray between the time of his hospital discharge and the time of his death late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, to call Crime Check at 456-2233.
