The funeral of Ashley Dale, the young woman who was one of three victims of gun violence in a single week in Liverpool, has taken place.
Her magnolia white coffin was carried into the city’s Anglican Cathedral by members of her family, as friends and colleagues followed behind.
The mood was sombre and dignified as dozens of mourners, most wearing black, came to say their last farewells to the “rising star” who “had her whole life ahead of her”.
Ms Dale was just 28-years-old when she became the innocent victim of a gunman who burst into her home in the Old Swan area of Liverpool last month.
She was found dying in her back garden on 21 August.
Ms Dale was discovered unresponsive by the emergency services, close to her mobile phone and to a number of empty shell cases, following the shooting.
Police said the gunman fired “indiscriminately” after forcing his way into her home in the early hours of the morning.
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She had been shot in the back.
Her family described her as a “hard-working young woman who had her entire life ahead of her”.
She had recently been promoted at her job with the Environmental Health department at Knowsley Council.
“None of this makes sense and our lives will never be the same again. A senseless crime that has torn a family apart,” they added.
Eight arrests have been made so far in the investigation into the killing.
Most recently, four men were arrested in Cumbria and Liverpool.
Three were arrested on suspicion of Ms Dale’s murder, and on suspicion of possessing a firearm, while the fourth man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Three have since been released on conditional bail, the fourth was released pending further investigation.
Two men previously arrested on suspicion of murder and two women held on suspicion of assisting an offender also remain on bail.
Ms Dale’s murder happened just days after 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was shot and killed by a group of four men on electric bicycles in the Dingle area of the city on 16 August.
Then, on 22 August, fewer than 48 hours after Ashley was shot, and only a couple of miles away, a masked gunman forced his way into the home of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, killing the schoolgirl and injuring her mother, Cheryl.
Olivia’s funeral took place last week.
Also wounded in that incident was 35-year-old Joseph Nee – the man police believe was the intended target – who was seeking refuge from the attacker.
Numerous arrests have also been made in the investigations into the shootings of Mr Rimmer and Olivia.
Merseyside Police says it is still appealing for help in tracing the gunmen, and the weapons used in the attacks.
No one has yet been charged with any of the three murders.
