ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The family of Sydney Wilson will tell you life hasn’t been the same since they lost her.

“Very difficult. There’s been a lot of good going on, with her getting ready to be a great aunt again. And you know, her other sister Heather started back to a job that she loves. Her niece graduated high school and she couldn’t be there for those milestones and everybody’s life and it’s devastating, it’s very devastating,” said Crystal Miller, Sydney’s sister.

On July 31, 2023, 13-year-old Marcos Barela allegedly shot and killed Sydney at a gas station. Police say Wilson was trying to get her stolen car back.

Miller said, just as they were about to honor her at the one-year mark of her death, her family was gutted when they found out the cross at her memorial was also stolen.

“It was like they took her from us all over again. Like they just ripped her out from underneath us all over again. It’s heartbreaking, it’s devastating and it’s very hard to wrap my head around why anybody would want to take a memorial cross,” Miller said.

Luckily, Miller adds, someone found the cross and returned it.

“We do want to say thank you to the two individuals that found her cross and turned it in to us. They don’t know how that really truly means to us,” she said.

Miller wants the community to come together and celebrate Sydney’s life well-lived.

“There is not a bad memory. All her memories are good. There is not bad one out there so I couldn’t pick one. There’s not just one to pick,” Miller said.

The family of Sydney Wilson will hold a vigil to remember her on what was supposed to be her 25th birthday. That is Aug. 9. They’re holding the vigil that day at 7:30 p.m. at her memorial on Central and Coors.