Raelyn Davis: 24-year-old dies in road rage shooting en route to celebrate dad's birthday
SKYKOMISH, WASHINGTON: The family of a woman who was shot and killed during an apparent road rage incident on Saturday, October 15, remembered her as a "ray of sunshine."
Around 7.50 pm on October 15, 24-year-old Raelyn Davis was riding as a passenger in a 2014 Kia Sorrento near Skykomish along Highway 2, about a mile west of Stevens Pass near milepost 63, when an unidentified suspect opened fire on the vehicle from a dark-colored Subaru SUV and fled the scene. Raelyn was hit by at least one bullet and died at the scene, authorities said. The interaction reportedly began as a road rage incident between the Kia and the Subaru.
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"This one started out with high beams being flashed," Washington State Trooper Kelsey Harding explained to Fox 13. "I'm not sure what the suspect vehicle was upset about, but the victim vehicle was just driving home from being at Oktoberfest." Speaking to KOMO-TV, Raelyn's grandmother said she was riding in the Kia with another family -- a husband, wife, and their children -- on the US 2 highway after spending the day at Oktoberfest. She was looking forward to celebrating her father's birthday that night in Leavenworth.
The tragedy has left Raelyn's friends and family in disbelief. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been set up to cover funeral expenses. She was remembered as a "ray of sunshine" by her loved ones. "There's not one time you can think of she wasn't smiling, laughing, making someone laugh," her aunt Carlin Taylor said. "Every room she went into, she lit it up," her devastated mother, Stephanie Smith, told King 5 from her Redmond home.
The family described Raelyn as the type of daughter who called her mother several times a day. She called her mom on Saturday to tell her she was heading home from Leavenworth after attending the Oktoberfest and doing some Christmas shopping with friends. "She said she was having a great time," Carlin recalled. "She said, 'I got you a gift and I'm on my way home. I'm coming home.'" Unfortunately, the 24-year-old never made it home.
Taryn Davis, her sister, said the siblings were planning Taryn's upcoming birthday together. "We'd go shopping together and go to lunch together," she reminisced through tears. "Now, I don't get to do that with her anymore." Raelyn was just beginning an independent life. She was going to culinary school to become a baker and recently bought her first apartment in Everett. "I really don't know what every day will bring from now on," Taryn said. "It's like a tornado inside my soul."
"There's gotta be somebody who has seen something. There's gotta be somebody out there that knows," her aunt Carlin insisted. "That person took away my sister. They should be held accountable," Taryn said. "They took my best friend away." Meanwhile, her heartbroken mother added, "Raelyn was such a beautiful young soul, she really needs to have justice for this."
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At the time of publication, the only description of the shooter's vehicle is a dark-colored Subaru SUV with a cargo basket mounted on top. Washington State Patrol is urging anyone who was driving on Highway 2 in either direction from Monroe to Leavenworth between 6.15 pm and 9 pm to check dash cam footage. Anyone who has spotted the vehicle or has information about the shooting is urged to call or email Detective Sergeant Michael Marken at the Washington Highway Patrol at 360-654-1140 or Michael.Marken@wsp.wa.gov.