Asian Woman Fatally Shot a Week Before Her Birthday in Georgia

Loved ones are mourning a 25-year-old Asian woman who was shot to death while driving home in Doraville, Ga., last week.

The details: Carmen Caiyi Lee, who was a week away from her birthday, was killed on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, just south of Tilly Mill Road, on the night of May 29.

A Doraville Police Department (DPD) officer saw a vehicle make a stop around 9:30 p.m. in the roadway. Upon checking, they found an unresponsive woman — later identified as Lee — with a gunshot wound.
Lee’s family told Asian Feed they believe two individuals were exchanging gunfire at the time of the incident and she got hit with a stray bullet.
Authorities told Lee’s family it was a “case of wrong time wrong place,” reported CBS46.
Lee’s younger brother, Alvin, organized a GoFundMe page to help fund her funeral and memorial services. As of this writing, he has raised almost $54,000.

A life lost: Lee, the oldest of three siblings, was the daughter of Malaysian immigrants. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2018 and worked as a financial portfolio analyst.

Alvin said his sister was “one of the fiercest people in the world,” only wanting to be successful and provide for their parents. He also described her as “the glue that pulled our family together in the darkest of times.”
Lee’s boyfriend, Petrus Reyes, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she was the “most gentle soul.” She was “selfless” and he often reminded her to take care of herself.

The bigger picture: Lee is one of the victims of at least 30 shootings on roadways in metro Atlanta and surrounding counties this year, which investigators mainly attribute to road rage, according to AJC.

The 25-year-old is also among 10 who died from a fatal shooting while driving or riding a car, the outlet added.
Lee’s death also follows the mass shootings in spas in the Atlanta area, which scared her and prompted her to start carrying pepper spray for protection, Reyes said.
A man who claimed to be close to Lee told FOX 5 that she worried about the local violence “every single day” and hoped for everyone to just get together peacefully.
“Our Detectives are working to piece together what, where, and why this happened to bring justice for Carmen and her family,” DPD Captain T.K. Gordon said, according to CBS46.

Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact DPD at (770) 455-1000 or on their website. Funeral services for Carmen are being held on Friday, according to her obituary.

Featured Image via Lee Family

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