27-year-old woman suspected of hitting, killing 70-year-old man with his own truck near Spokane airport

A 27-year-old woman is accused of hitting and killing a 70-year-old man with his truck he used to pick up the woman last week near the Spokane International Airport, according to the Spokane Police Department.

Alyssa K. Bray was later arrested by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies after fleeing from them while under the influence, police said in a news release.

She was initially booked into the Lincoln County Jail on suspicion of DUI and attempting to elude a police vehicle. Bray was then arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder and booked into the Spokane County Jail.

The man who died was identified by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office as Gerald R. Fox, police said.

Police said officers responded at about 7:15 p.m. April 9 to the area of West Sunset Frontage and South Grove roads for a possibly dead person on the side of the road. Officers found a partially clothed dead man, Fox, who appeared to have been hit by a vehicle with the impact throwing him into a nearby fence.

Soon after finding the body, several witnesses called 911 reporting a truck driving erratically on U.S. Highway 2 in Airway Heights. Detectives determined Fox was the owner of the vehicle, but officers were unable to locate the vehicle at that time, according to police.

Major Crimes investigators determined it was likely the driver intentionally hit Fox on Sunset Frontage Road.

While investigators were on scene, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies were alerted to the same truck by a person reporting a possibly impaired driver. There was no link at that time between the alleged impaired driver and Fox’s death.

Through further investigation, police determined Bray was walking the night of April 9 on Sunset Highway when she accepted a ride in the truck with Fox. Investigators believe Bray took possession of the vehicle from Fox soon after and intentionally struck him .

Bray remained in the Spokane County Jail Tuesday night on a $1 million bond.

Fox pleaded guilty last year to one count of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 15 months in prison after housekeepers at a Spokane hotel found child porn photos in a room Fox rented. That sentence ran concurrently with another child porn possession conviction in 2022 after child porn was discovered in his home at an RV park in north Spokane.