Ashlee Jenae Threatened Suicide Weeks Before Taking Her Own Life, Fiancé Says

Ashlee Jenae's fiancé, Joe McCann, says she "quickly spiraled" and had threatened suicide in the weeks leading up to her tragic death, when she took her own life during a birthday trip to Tanzania.

Joe tells TMZ ... it all started with a March chat with her doctor, who he says told her there was a chance she may not be able to carry a child. He said she was "devastated" by the news.

The investment firm CEO says things took a turn weeks before they went to Zanzibar in April ... telling us Ashlee -- whose real name is Ashly Robinson -- was "completely unrecognizable" on a March snowboarding trip in Oregon.

Joe says Ashlee suffered a concussion when she hit her head on a rock -- she was wearing a helmet -- on their first day snowboarding. He says during the trip, she was having panic attacks and public outbursts ... which he claims was new for her, at least in his experience.

He also says this is when the suicidal threats started.

Joe tells us during the Oregon trip, Ashlee tried to open a car door while they were driving back to the mountain at "high speed" on a rural highway. He says when he pulled over, Ashlee got out and insisted on walking back. According to Joe, she walked a mile before getting in an Uber.

Back at the Oregon house they were staying, Joe claims Ashlee went outside and started walking into traffic.

Joe says when the situation settled, Ashlee allegedly started crying and told him she was afraid she couldn't have a baby with him and that he would leave her. He says he consoled her and assured her he'd never leave and that he had bought an engagement ring to let her know he was committed to her."

He says the next day "was like a switch flipped" ... claiming Ashlee was completely back to normal overnight.

But when they went to Africa a couple weeks later, Joe says Ashlee became "erratic" once they arrived at the Zuri Zanzibar Resort on April 6.

He claims her behavior was "entirely consistent" with how she was acting in Oregon, saying she had several public outbursts during their time on the island.

Joe also tells us Ashlee was acting "bizarre" and out of character ... saying she was chain-smoking cigarettes and drinking wine first thing in the morning.

He claims throughout the trip, Ashlee tried to call off the engagement and demanded he take the ring back ... but he says he refused.

Joe tells us that after one public outburst in particular, he asked the resort how much a separate villa would cost. After that, he says he got back to the villa they shared to find Ashlee still heated ... and says he called off the engagement.

He claims Ashlee allegedly started yelling and smashing stuff, telling him ... "I hope I choke and die in here tonight." He says this was the argument the neighboring villa reported to the front desk.

Joe tells us after the argument, he voluntarily moved to his own villa, where he tried calling Ashlee's phone and villa multiple times. He says she refused to answer and claims ... "Her last communication to me was simply the word 'Stop.'"

As you know, Ashlee was found hanging in her villa and was rushed to a hospital, where she died on April 9. We broke the story ... her cause of death was later officially ruled a suicide.

There was a ton of social media speculation surrounding Ashlee's death ... many people believed the circumstances were suspicious because she appeared to get engaged on the Zanzibar trip.

But according to Joe, the engagement everyone saw wasn't the real thing ... telling us they'd actually gotten engaged privately on March 27, after a night out at an NBA game. He says the safari proposal everyone saw was just for show for social media and her followers.