Hawthorne : Teacher Held in Slaying

A Hawthorne man was in jail in Spokane, Wash., on Wednesday, awaiting arraignment on first-degree murder charges in connection with the shotgun slaying of his former wife.

As his sons waited in his car, Raymond V. Brytan, 46, a fifth-grade teacher in the Compton schools, walked up to the door of his former wife’s home in Spokane on Christmas Day and killed her with a blast from a sawed-off shotgun, police said.

Brytan, who was divorced from Vera A. Perry five years ago after a 14-year marriage, was in Spokane to visit his sons, ages 5 and 9. Police said Brytan fled the house after the shooting but was seized by neighbors and held until police arrived.

A bond of $250,000 was set in a preliminary hearing. Dick Cease, a public defender representing Brytan, said in a telephone interview that an arraignment would probably not take place until February. Police said Brytan’s home is in Hawthorne but they were not sure of his address.