Molly Conley’s mom shares a final letter her daughter wrote

Molly Conley’s mom, Susan, received a packet from Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle today.

Along with her report card, it included a letter molly wrote to her class as an end of the year assignment.

The 15-year-old girl was killed while walking with friends along a Lake Stevens road. A 26-year-old Marysville man has been arrested in connection with the drive-by shooting death.

The City of Lake Stevens first confirmed that an arrest had been made in the case Friday evening. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect was arrested at his home and would be booked into jail for first-degree murder, but provided no further details.

Last week, dispatchers made reverse-911 calls to nearly 4,000 phones, seeking information that could help catch the shooter. Detectives asked people to respond if they had video of vehicles driving in the area during the hours before and after the shooting.

A reward for information in the case had reached $34,000.

Here is Molly’s letter:

Dear Class of 2016,

I pray that we can find a way to connect and get along before our last year together. I pray we are different. I pray that we can be a family. I pray that we can make this school our home.

High school is a trying time in which we must look to God for help. We should all be comfortable with asking for help with anything. I feel we got a great start on our frosh retreat. However, we all need to get things off our chest and a great way to do that is to pray, but I know that we all aren’t religious so I encourage you to look for help in the people around you.

If we all get to know each other now it will make our lives together that much better. Now I am not asking for everyone to be great friends but the least we could do is respect one another. This is like how Jesus says to treat others how you would like to be treated. If we do that then we would no longer hurt each other. Another way to say that is put yourself in their shoes. We need to know that everyone has different things they are dealing with. It is very often that I forget the world does not revolve around me. I admit that I get caught up in my own life and forget other people have troubles also. When I remember that I am able to be more understanding of others. If we all step back for a second and remember we all have our troubles we will be able to respect each other more easily.

We need to see each other as humans not as a name on a screen. We need to be kind to each other face to face and on the internet. Our generation faces so many obstacles because of the tools we are given. The internet and phones were practically made to let people get away with bullying and that is an unfortunate truth. However we can be the change. We can turn the internet into what it was originally intended for, a tool for learning and sharing. A way for people to bond with people all around the world. All we have to do is respect each other. All we have to do to change is to be aware. So I pray that we will take these next few years together and make them great.