Daughter Of Malaysian Immigrants In The US Shot Dead A Week Before Her Birthday
Her family and friends described her as the most gentle soul.
By Sadho Ram — 06 Jun 2021, 07:11 PM
On the night of Saturday, 29 May, Carmen Cai Yi Lee was shot dead while she was driving home on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, a road in a small city outside of Atlanta, Georgia, according to Doraville police
A daughter of Malaysian immigrants, Carmen was a week away from celebrating her 25th birthday.
She was born on 5 June 1996, according to her online obituary, where her friends and family have left their tribute for the University of Georgia graduate with a degree in finance.
The Doraville police, in a Facebook post, noted that Carmen's body was found in the driver's seat by a concerned officer who saw a vehicle stopped by the roadway around 9.30pm last Saturday.
Police believe that it was a "case of wrong time wrong place"
"Our detectives are working to piece together what, where, and why this happened to bring justice for Carmen and her family," CBS46 quoted Doraville police captain T.K. Gordon as saying on 2 June.
Her family, meanwhile, is trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
"All she wanted was to be successful and provide for her parents. She was one of the fiercest people out in the world," her younger brother, Alvin Lee, wrote on a GoFundMe page.
"As I am writing this, I can't even begin to explain the emotions that are running through me right now. I am devastated knowing that my sister won't be there for my most important moments."
Describing his elder sister as the glue that held their family together in the darkest of times, Alvin wrote that Carmen was in a stable relationship with her boyfriend and had the rest of her life planned
"Being the older child meant she had the most responsibility. She was put in the position of taking care of our parents and her younger siblings. Yet, even with all that responsibility on her shoulders, she never gave in. It hurts to know that she is gone," read her brother's GoFundMe post that has been set up to help raise money for her parents to cover her funeral and memorial services.
As of this writing, it has raised USD60,197 of its USD5,000 goal.
Carmen's boyfriend, Petrus Reyes, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she was "the most gentle soul and that she was "always doing something for someone else".
According to him, she made it her mission to serve not only as a role model to her younger brothers but also to help her parents, who weren't native English speakers.
Reyes said that they had planned to buy a home together in Duluth, Minnesota, where Carmen had grown up, so she could be closer to her parents, who are now trying to imagine life without her.
The fatal shooting of the young woman has made her the latest victims this year on roadways in metro Atlanta and surrounding counties
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Carmen is one of the 10 people shot dead while driving or riding in cars this year, with many of the cases attributed to road rage.
Doraville investigators remain hopeful that someone will come forward with information about the shooting that killed Carmen, despite the fact the majority of road shootings remain unsolved.
