Raymond Ray Lee: New Orleans man found guilty of fatally shooting barbershop owner in motel room robbery

JEFFERSON, MISSOURI: A Jefferson Parish jury has convicted a New Orleans man of murder for the shooting death of a barbershop owner during an armed robbery in 2021, as per Audacy.

Raymond Ray Lee shot Alonzo Zo Wiley three times, then covered his head with a pillow and shot him twice more in the face in a robbery, as per prosecutors.

What did Raymond Ray Lee do? 

A jury convicted Lee, 38, on Friday, February 2 of second-degree murder in the killing of Wiley, 35, prosecutors said in a news release.

The murder happened before dawn on December 5, 2021, in the months after Hurricane Ida, when Wiley had been staying at a motel. 

Lee, a batterer with a criminal record, and his partner were also lodging there. Prosecutors claimed that after Lee texted Wiley and lied to him to make him feel more at ease and "freely allow him into his motel room," the killing took place as cited by law enforcement. Per nola.com, police said the two men had been arranging a sexual encounter.

In the room, Lee tried to rob Wiley but shot him during a struggle when Wiley tried to get away, authorities said. Police found Wiley dead inside.

The detectives soon found their first lead. Four minutes after the 911 call, Wiley's new BMW was seen leaving the motel behind a black Jeep Cherokee on surveillance footage. The girlfriend of Lee owned the Cherokee.

Detectives discovered Lee inside the Cherokee at a different motel a few weeks later. They also found a bag of 9 millimeter ammo in his motel room; this ammunition is identical to the expended casings discovered at the crime scene.

Lee had texts with Wiley on his iPhone. Police discovered a video of a pilfered 9 mm handgun on Lee's phone. According to the officials, Wiley's niece purchased the rifle and gave Wiley permission to carry it. Lee was in the immediate vicinity at the time of the murder, according to cellphone location data.

Lee denied killing Alonzo Lee

Lee initially told detectives he was not at the scene, saying he had been at a lakefront at the time of the murder.

Later on, he acknowledged that he had texted and met Wiley, but denied having killed him. Prosecutors alleged that his lawyer claimed the Sheriff's Office had fabricated evidence.

Lee's girlfriend stayed out of the case and wasn't charged.

Earlier, Lee had been found guilty of second-degree battery in 2019.

In the present case, apart from Wiley's murder conviction, he was also found guilty of obstruction of justice due to his removal of the pistol he used in the killing and his status as a criminal in possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 7.

Meanwhile, family and friends were devastated by the death of Wiley, the cherished owner of The Grooming Gallery and a veteran of the United States Navy.

“It was senseless,” Wiley’s niece, Azona Wiley, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “If someone needed something from him, he would have given it. Even if you robbed him, you didn’t have to kill him.”

His obituary said he was generous,dependable, loyal, handsome, and stylish.

"These are just some of the words to describe our charismatic Alonzo,” the obit read. “We knew him as Zomula and he lived life to the fullest and on his own terms. He kept a smile on his face and uplifted everyone in his presence. He was the first person to call when you needed something and always the life of the party.”