Inset: Jennifer Kerri Ray (Aiken County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Hitchcock Animal Hospital (Google Maps).
A veterinarian in South Carolina has been arrested for allegedly killing her husband inside their home over the weekend, fatally shooting him in the back multiple times amid increasingly dire marital straits.
Jennifer Kerri Ray was taken into custody on Sunday and charged with one count of murder and one count of possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime in the slaying of Greg Baughman, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a report from Augusta, Georgia, CBS affiliate WRDW, deputies with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2024, responded to a reported shooting at a residence in the 1000 block of Prides Crossing in Aiken, South Carolina, which borders the Peach State.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they saw Ray walking from the backyard of the house to the front yard, Augusta Fox affiliate WFXG reported. She was immediately handcuffed and put into the back of a sheriff’s patrol car.
Deputies then entered the home and reportedly found Baughman, who was lying on the floor and appeared to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators said there were multiple spent bullet casings on the floor around the body as well as a black handgun that was recovered from the kitchen counter.
The Aiken County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene and pronounced Baughman dead at 6:30 p.m., the office said in a news release. An autopsy is scheduled to take place in Newberry, South Carolina.
An arrest warrant obtained by the Augusta Press provided additional details about the killing.
According to the report, the document states that Ray acted with malice aforethought, meaning she acted knowingly and with the intent to kill, when she allegedly shot Baughman “multiple times in the back and multiple times while he was lying on the floor.”
Authorities did not speculate about a possible motive for the killing, but the couple had reportedly been separated for some time and Baughman had recently filed for divorce.
Civil court documents obtained by WRDW reportedly showed that the couple initially separated on Aug. 29, 2024, and had remained apart with Baughman filing for legal separation on Oct. 25. He was not seeking alimony or spousal support from Ray, the documents show. In the filing, Baughman requested a court order prohibiting him and Ray from “selling, mortgaging, hiding, disposing of or depleting any marital assets.”
Baughman also reportedly requested a “no adverse contact” order from the court. The documents were served on Ray on Nov. 9, 2024.
Ray appeared in court Monday afternoon where her attorney claimed she had been a victim of domestic abuse and that she was hospitalized last month due to her injuries, WRDW reported. Ray claimed that she did not immediately pursue charges because her husband was a Marine and the allegations could have jeopardized his livelihood.
Ray and Baughman were the co-owners of the Hitchcock Animal Hospital in Aiken. The hospital released the following statement on Monday:
Today, we will be closing early to allow our team to regroup and discuss the best ways to move forward together as a hospital and community. Our commitment to providing compassionate care for pets and their families remains unwavering, and we plan to resume regular operations. We still have two full time doctors on our staff that intend to continue seeing patients during our business hours.
We want to take this moment to reaffirm our mission of supporting both the animals we treat and the people who love them. While we cannot comment on individual circumstances, we stand for compassion, understanding, and kindness in all situations.
Thank you for your patience and continued trust in us during this time.
Ray, who is prohibited from contacting any members of Baughman’s family, is currently being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court again on March 14, 2025.
