Her loved ones gathered at the corner of Greenleaf Boulevard and Wilmington Avenue in Compton. The intersection is the same place where Gray lost her life following a high-speed chase on Dec. 14.
Friends say Gray had just dropped off her husband at his second job and was returning home to her three young girls when she was killed.
The pursuit stemmed from a shooting in the 100 block of East Indigo Street. Witnesses told investigators the suspect's vehicle was a red Pontiac sedan, possibly a Grand Prix.
At about 12:30 a.m., deputies spotted a Grand Prix and conducted a traffic stop. When the deputies stepped out of their patrol car, the vehicle sped away.
Deputies chased the Grand Prix westbound on Greenleaf Boulevard. The vehicle blew through a red light and struck a Chevrolet Monte Carlo traveling northbound on Wilmington Avenue. The force of the crash flipped the Grand Prix, which crashed into an iron gate and erupted in flames.
Gray and three people in the Grand Prix were pronounced dead at the scene.
Saturday marked Gray's 31st birthday. Friends celebrated by releasing balloons in her memory.
Gray was a stay-at-home mom to her three girls, ages seven, 10 and 11.
