Lauren Elizabeth Bonnema, 25, was fatally shot inside the Hidden Creek Apartments on East Brainerd Road in Chattanooga on the evening of July 2, 2018. She lived in the apartment with her boyfriend and their seven-month-old daughter. The medical examiner ruled a single gunshot wound to the face as the cause of death.

Officers found Lauren’s boyfriend, 29-year-old Cody Neal Gilliland, at the scene holding the infant. Police say Gilliland told investigators he had been agitated by a dog that followed him into a bedroom, began yelling and kicking at the animal, and that an AR-15 he was handling accidentally discharged. Authorities charged him with criminally negligent homicide, describing Lauren’s death as resulting from negligent handling of a loaded firearm.

Lauren was a lifelong Chattanooga resident, an Army Reservist, active at Brainerd Hills Baptist Church, and the mother of daughter Ashlyn. Does anyone have information about that night or knew Lauren and can help shed light on what happened?