HARPER WOODS, MI – A third first-degree murder charge has been filed after the mother of man accused in a deadly domestic dispute died of knife wounds sustained in the incident, authorities announced.
Flossie Bray, 42, of Harper Woods, died at a local hospital on Saturday, July 16, where she was being treated for stab wounds allegedly inflicted her son, Jonathan Welch, 23, of Harper Woods, on July 10, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. She was stabbed in the back multiple times with a butcher knife during the incident at her home.
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Welch is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother, his stepfather Robert Bray Jr., 70, of Harper Woods, and Zlayiah Frazier, 22, of Roseville. Robert Bray Jr. and Frazier died of blunt force trauma on July 10; he was charged on July 13.
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Frazier is the mother of Welch’s 1-year-old son. She was the victim of an alleged sexual assault and torture at the hands of Welch on June 2 at their Detroit home. He is charged with multiple violent crimes in the hours-long torture that involved strangling the victim with an extension cord, pouring gasoline over her body, attempting to sexually assault her with a large pole, burning her arms and legs with a metal spatula, beating her with his belt and threatening her with a drill.
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Welch had posted a $10,000 bond in the June 2 case on Friday, July 8. He was released from Wayne County Jail to house arrest with a GPS tether at his mother’s home, which is where the July 10 incident occurred.
At 8:14 p.m. on Sunday, July 10, at the defendant’s mother’s home in the 20640 block of Kenosha Street in Harper Woods, it is alleged that Welch fatally wounded Flossie Bray and killed Frazier and Robert Bray. First responders found the defendant and Frazier’s 1-year-old son in the backyard.
Welch allegedly barricaded himself in the home and fired multiple gunshots at police officers. The standoff went on for several hours. Eventually, the defendant allegedly started a fire inside the home and then appeared in the front doorway. Officers apprehended him, and he was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Firefighters extinguished the fire.
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Welch is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of assault with intent to murder, second-degree arson, seven counts of felonious assault, and six counts of felony firearm.
He was arraigned on the first-degree murder count related to the death of Flossie Bray on Wednesday, July 20, in 32A District Court at his probable cause conference before Judge Rebekah Coleman. His preliminary examination is scheduled for Aug. 31. He is being held in jail without bond.
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