Girl turned 15 on Friday. Shot dead the next.

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WOW. read and weep:

Her grades earned her the nickname “4.0” and she was celebrating her 15th birthday Saturday night when Molly Conley of Seattle was shot dead while walking with friends along a Lake Stevens road.

Lake Stevens police say she was the victim of a drive-by shooting. There are no suspects, and police have asked for help from the Snohomish County Major Crimes Unit, the Marysville Police Department, and the public — urging anybody with information about the crime to come forward.

Conley, a Bishop Blanchet High School freshman who lived in the Magnolia neighborhood, had just turned 15 on Friday. She was excited about spending Saturday night at a friend’s house in Lake Stevens to further celebrate her birthday, said her mother, Susan Arksey.

She and several friends were walking on the shoulder of the 10600 block of South Lake Stevens Road around 11:18 p.m. when she was shot, police said. The area is residential, with a fast-food restaurant and a convenience store nearby.

Lake Stevens police said they received 911 calls about numerous possible drive-by shootings that evening, although the others only resulted in property damage. It’s not yet clear if the other shootings are related, they said.

News of the deadly shooting also came as a shock to Lake Stevens residents, who described the area as a small, quiet community unaccustomed to random violence.

“We had a vehicular homicide two months ago,” said interim Police Chief Dan Lorentzen. “It does happen, but it’s not an everyday occurrence.”

[Mnemosyne]

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