Jason Ray, a UNC senior who wore the Rameses suit for three years, died Monday morning after being hit by an SUV Friday afternoon while walking along a New Jersey highway.
A spokeswoman for Hackensack University Medical Center said that Ray died at 8:38 a.m. Monday.
He sustained severe head injuries after being hit by an SUV on N.J. Route 4. He was in the area for the men’s basketball game Friday against the University of Southern California. Hospital officials said that Ray was an organ donor.
Ray, 21, was an active member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the lead singer of a band, Nine P.M. Traffic.
Those who knew Ray said he was a generous person who epitomized what a mascot should be.
“I think he took (the Rameses job) very seriously,” UNC senior James Jolley said Sunday. “He loves to make people happy.”
Ray, who was to have graduated in May with a degree in business administration, also led a Bible study group for off-campus upperclassmen.
His parents and two brothers, along with several friends, made the trip to New Jersey to be with Ray.
Gagik Hovsepyan, 51, of Paramus, N.J., was on Route 4 trying to exit when he hit Ray with his 2006 Mercury Mountaineer, according to a press release from the nearby Fort Lee Police Department. Hovsepyan stopped his vehicle to help and called police. His son was asleep in the vehicle at the time.
