An afternoon gathering in a Bellingham apartment turned fatal for 18-year-old Alejandro Pallares. On the evening of May 18, 2025, Pallares was with two friends on Creston Way when the men were reportedly handling a 9mm handgun that belonged to Pallares and examining its laser sights. A witness said Cristian Angel Lara-Guzman was waving the firearm and pointing it at Pallares; the witness left the room, heard a single gunshot, and returned to find Pallares bleeding on the bed. Lara-Guzman told the witness to call 911 and was heard saying he had messed up, and during the call said he didn’t know a bullet was in the chamber.

Pallares was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head and taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center in critical condition. He died of his injuries on May 25, 2025. Pallares was a senior at Ferndale High School and a member of the football team, a week shy of graduation.

Cristian Angel Lara-Guzman was arrested at the scene and initially charged with first-degree assault; after Pallares’s death the charge was amended to first-degree manslaughter, plus first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm based on a prior conviction. Lara-Guzman pleaded not guilty and is held at the Whatcom County Jail on $1 million bail.

Did anyone in Bellingham know Alejandro or have information about that evening?