REDMOND, Wash. — Raelyn Davis was on her way back from Christmas shopping in Leavenworth when she was shot and killed near Steven Pass last weekend, and now her family is remembering her as a "ray of sunshine."
"There's not one time you can think of she wasn't smiling, laughing, making someone laugh," said her aunt, Carlin Taylor.
"Every room she went into, she lit it up," added her mother, Stephanie Smith, from her Redmond home.
Davis was the type of daughter who called her mother several times a day.
On Saturday, October 15, Davis called her mom telling her she was heading home from Leavenworth after going to Oktoberfest and doing some Christmas shopping with friends.
"She said she was having a great time," recalled Carlin. "She said, 'I got you a gift and I'm on my way home. I'm coming home.'"
Davis never made it home.
Around 7:50 p.m. on Oct. 15, Davis was shot and killed in what is believed to be a road rage incident along Highway 2, about a mile west of Stevens Pass near milepost 63, according to Washington State Patrol. Davis was riding as a passenger in a silver Kia Sorrento when a passenger in a dark-colored SUV shot through the rear passenger window of the Kia, striking Davis.
Her sister, Taryn Davis, said they were planning Taryn's upcoming birthday together.
"We'd go shopping together and go to lunch together," said Taryn, bursting into tears. "Now, I don't get to do that with her anymore."
The 24-year-old was just beginning to live her best life. She was going to culinary school to be a baker and had just secured her first apartment in Everett - all of which makes what happened last Saturday so hard for Stephanie to comprehend.
"I really don't know what every day will bring from now on," Taryn said. "It's like a tornado inside my soul."
The only description of the shooter's vehicle is a dark-colored Subaru SUV with a cargo basket on top.
The Washington State Patrol is asking anyone who was driving on Highway 2 in either direction from Monroe to Leavenworth, between 6:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. to check dash cam video.
If you see either car contact Detective Sgt. Michael Marken at 360-654-1140 or Michael.Marken@wsp.wa.gov.
"There's gotta be somebody who has seen something. There's gotta be somebody out there that knows," Davis' aunt, Carlin Taylor, said.
"That person took away my sister. They should be held accountable," said sister Taryn. "They took my best friend away."
"Raelyn was such a beautiful young soul, she really needs to have justice for this," added her heartbroken mother.