“He called me Pops”: Jesse Wray Remembered

Two pastors and a chaplain rallied a congregation to share memories of Jesse Wray, and honor his life by seeking to change their own.

Roughly 100 gathered Aug. 10 in the St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church sanctuary and let loose an array of emotions as they struggled to make sense of the loss.

The 25-year-old died during the evening of July 24 in an officer-involved shooting outside of a burning garage in north Salina, shortly after his father, Larry Wray, was arrested there on a warrant.

“Jesse was my best friend. There is a hole in my heart,” said his mother, Heidi Peterson, of Salina.

Seated nearby in a church pew, Abel Perez quietly listened to the banter, some loaded with words seldom used in a house of worship. While occasionally drying tears, Perez thumbed through a file folder he brought to the service, providing recollections of his 16 years as a part of Jesse’s life.

His mother wanted to honor Perez, and listed him in the obituary as Jesse’s godfather.

“Jesse loved Abel. He was always there for him. He gave Jesse life,” Heidi Peterson said. “They had a really unusual bond.”

Perez was dubbed Wray’s “angel,” in a front-page Salina Journal article, July 10, 2008, for assisting in removing the boy, then 9, from Herington City Lake, after being knocked into the water by an out-of-control pickup truck. Jesse had been fishing. Using CPR, Perez was then able to revive him.

He became close with Jesse, and offered to adopt him so he could escape a difficult childhood, and live in the Perez’s seven bedroom house in southeastern Saline County. Abel and Teresa Perez have three grown children and seven grandchildren.

“I would’ve made him accountable for his actions, and make his grades. At his mom’s house, he could come and go whenever he wanted,” Perez said. “I even offered to put him in my will. I told him ‘When I die, I’m gonna leave you something. You are my kid.’ It gave him another incentive to straighten his ass up. But he didn’t believe it. He didn’t want to leave his brothers.”

Jesse’s boyhood hero stayed in touch, however, and enjoyed at least some form of kinship.

“He called me ‘Pops,’ ” Perez said.

Wray led a difficult life, was in trouble with law enforcement, did time in jail and abused drugs, according to his family.

But there were high hopes for the youngster this spring.

During a stay in the Saline County Jail, Jesse was in treatment with Deputy Marcia Crum, assistant in programs and classifications.
“She made him happy with himself, gave him more self-confidence, and put some life back in him,” his mother said. “Jesse was moved to a halfway house in McPherson and was doing really well until my dad (Donald Lee) died (March 31).”

Jesse didn’t react well to change.

“I took all the pictures off the walls, to paint, and there was no furniture. I think it took away Jesse’s sense of having a home,” Heidi Peterson said “He started on drugs again and was already on the run by the end of May.”

On the night of July 24, Salina Police officers were sent to 544 N. 12th after learning Jesse’s biological father Larry J. Wray, 44, who was on the current list of Salina’s Most Wanted for a felony warrant, was in the vicinity. Authorities were told he was in the detached garage, according to a Kansas Bureau of Investigation release, and was arrested without incident.

Using “preliminary information,” the KBI reported that after Larry Wray was taken into custody, “an officer heard another person inside the garage.” It was Jesse D. Wray.

A K9 officer ordered Jesse to exit the garage, but he refused. “He was holding a gun and made threats to shoot if law enforcement entered the garage,” the release reads. “Jesse barricaded himself inside the garage. Officers backed away, set a perimeter and called for the Salina SWAT Team to respond. Troopers from the Kansas Highway Patrol arrived to assist.”

Officers then observed fire and smoke in the garage.

“The large garage door opened and a female subject exited, followed by Jesse. Gunfire was exchanged. Officers from the Salina Police Department and troopers from the KHP fired rounds that struck Jesse,” the release reads.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:45 p.m.

Heidi Peterson said law enforcement “shot gas into the garage and that started a fire. That’s what bystanders told me.” Also quoting witnesses, she said Jesse was not armed when he exited the garage.

“He made it all the way across the yard, in-between two houses, through a little latch gate, and pushed his way through a big wood fence, and they shot through a neighbor’s house where there was a little kid,” Peterson said.

News of the shooting “tore me apart,” said Perez. “I was hurt and thought ‘How did he waste so many opportunities to better himself?’ He knew God saved him and gave him another chance. I had so many expectations and plans for that young man.”

Learning about Jesse’s death on that Wednesday night — by social media posts — unleashed several weeks of sadness that still gnaws at his soul.

“I knew since he was 15 or 16 that he was a drug abuser,” Perez said. “He went through treatment and was in jail about five years.”

On the following Saturday night, Perez attended a candlelight vigil in Jesse’s honor at the summit of Indian Rock Park in Salina. Days later, he visited Ryan Mortuary and was granted a few minutes alone with the urn that held Jesse’s ashes.

“I talked to him and cussed at him,” Perez said. “Then I prayed for him, told him I loved him and said ‘May God have mercy on your soul.’ ”

Thoughts turned to how he died, and why.

“I was going to use all the resources I could to find out about what happened, and make sure the law didn’t mess up,” Perez said.

Peterson said she was told by a KBI investigator that the agency’s report of her son’s shooting will be available Friday. Saline County Attorney Jeff Ebel said the KBI will turn over its case file on the shooting to him.

“As to whether there should be criminal charges filed or not, I will make the determination,” he said Wednesday. The prosecutor provided no time frame as to when any decisions are made. “I don’t know how much evidence there is to review,” Ebel said.

Pastor Arthur Fair, of Salina, who serves First Missionary Baptist Church in Nicodemus, opened Jesse’s Aug. 10 service with a pair of scriptures. He shared one interaction with the young Wray at a local store.

“I asked (Jesse) if he believed in Jesus. He said ‘I do, but I don’t let anybody know, because it makes you look weak,’ ” Fair recalled “A lot of times in life, things that happen to you, aren’t for you.”

Jesse’s actions, “caused some people to come to church, and it changed a lot of people,” Pastor Fair said.

Family and friends accepted the invitation to come forward with thoughts to share.

“I cried for him. I always thought (he) would be here forever. I loved him so much. I will forever miss you. Just give my homey back,” said Adrian Martinez, a local friend.

Fighting back sobs, Jesse’s youngest brother, Cash Peterson, 20, of Salina, read from a letter Jesse wrote within the past month.

“This is coming from my soul. My life is a journey down a short road. I’m here to speak from my heart and mind. It’s one of a kind,” Cash recited.

Seated nearby were his wife, Kylie and their 10-month-old twin daughters Phoebe and Mila.

Another friend named Chris (he didn’t offer a last name) said Jesse touched his heart.

“There are not a lot of true people. Jesse was a man of his word. We all love him. Let’s make this day about him,” Chris said.

Clergy implored folks to pledge their faith, and consider making changes.

“Allow God to bring something good out of (Jesse’s) life. We just want to help you get through this. I believe Jesse’s life has brought us here for you to realize you want something different,” Pastor Allen D. Smith said from his home church pulpit.

“We welcome you to come forward and say ‘Lord I want something different.’ All you’ve got to do is ask. You don’t have to die the way Jesse did,” he said.
Enthusiastic responses of “Amen” resonated from the pews.

“How can anything good come of this? If one of you changes your life and returns to God, I’d say this is a win, and Jesse did not die in vain,” said Shawn Baird, chaplain at Salina Regional Health Center, who pastored Jesse while growing up in Herington.

“I don’t want you to be stuck in a life that God doesn’t want you to have,” he said. “Life’s full of choices. He wants you to have a life. I know it’s hard, but I’ve seen it happen. We need a church family to walk with us”

Church leaders provided music. Millie Moye, who knew Jesse Wray from years of teaching in the Salina School District, led the congregation in singing “Oh How I Love Jesus.” She is a deaconess at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church.

“I felt called to come,” Moye said. She described young Jesse in school as “just a normal quiet boy. He didn’t draw attention to himself.”

Dealing with the loss of a loved one has changed Cash Peterson.

“It makes me want to go out, do more and see more, and give my kids a better life,” he said. “Wish I could have spent more time with my brother.”

Heidi Peterson accepted some blame for her Jesse’s troubles. She admitted to being a drug user, but boasted being clean for six years. “I think all of this happened for a reason. I just don’t know what it is. He touched a lot of lives,” she said. “Jesse’s in a better place now.”

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FACTOID: Jesse Wray’s half-brother, Gauge Peterson, 23, was arrested last week for failure to appear in court, said his mother, Heidi Peterson. He is in the same area of the Saline County Jail, with Jesse’s father Larry Wray, 43, who was also jailed for failure to appear.