The ‘sweet, loving young woman’ killed by a stray bullet

“Alyssa was a wonderful, sweet and loving young woman whose life was tragically taken from us. She had the biggest heart and loved everyone and everything with which she came into contact.”

No parent or relative knows what to say, or what to write, when the press asks for a statement about a sudden death. They shouldn’t have to.

Alyssa Smith’s uncle Mike Bacon, stepped forward to give Q13 Fox a comment as they mourn the 23-year-old’s death.

She was attending a Father’s Day barbecue at her parent’s home when a bullet, fired from more than a half mile away, struck her in the chest.

Alyssa’s father performed CPR on her shortly after he called 911 to report more bullets whizzing through an area on Gadwa Road near Ferndale.

While investigators are still talking with people who were in the area, they believe the shots came from a group of five people who were shooting at targets with handguns high-powered rifles near the Nooksack River.

The Whatcom County Prosecutor’s office tells me charges are expected Wednesday against two men who are out on bail. Robert Lee, 23, of Bellingham, and Douglas Quiding Jr., 40, from Ferndale.

Both are convicted felons who are not supposed to have access to weapons.

According to court records, Lee’s criminal history includes illegal possession of a dangerous weapon, felony assault, violating no-contact orders, possession of methamphetamine and bail jumping.

A search of Quiding’s past finds he has been charged with three felonies. For his most recent conviction, in 2006, he threatened to climb into an ex-girlfriend’s window to inject her with bleach.

By LINDA THOMAS