Nearly 100 people gathered Friday evening close to a Birmingham intersection where, just over one week ago, 40-year-old Nakita “Kita” Davidson was abducted and killed.

Family and friends of the mother of four were led in a prayer of salvation as they prepared to say goodbye to Davidson with a balloon release ahead of her funeral on Saturday.

“Of course, the family is definitely devastated by this,’’ said the victim’s sister, Sandrika Davidson. “We never thought anything like this would happen to Nakita. She was a wonderful person.”

The vigil took place at Sixth Avenue S.W. and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive near Elmwood Cemetery.

It was there the investigation began in the predawn hours of April 11 when Birmingham police were dispatched to a two-vehicle wreck.

Officers arrived to find much more had happened than a wreck. There was clear evidence of a shooting, and it was apparent someone had been seriously wounded, if not worse.

A single pink Nike sneaker was found at the site which, once made public, was what led family members to contact police to identify Davidson.

Davidson’s vehicle – a 2008 burgundy Saturn Outlook – was driven away from the scene, police said.

For the next roughly 36 hours, family and police were desperate to find Davidson, as well as her boyfriend, 37-year-old Cedric Wayne Robertson, a convicted felon with a violent past.

Court records would later indicate Robertson deliberately crashed into Davidson’s vehicle, shot her, and then drove away in her vehicle after putting her into the trunk.

Davidson’s body was found the following day in a wooded area, also in southwest Birmingham.

The discovery was made by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and Birmingham Police Department’s Crime Reduction Team.

Several hours later, the manhunt for Robertson ended when the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Birmingham Police Department’s Crime Reduction Team, and Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies nabbed him as he was moving from one abandoned house to another.

He is charged with capital murder during a kidnapping.

Family said Davidson had been dating Robertson for less than a year.

“Her plan was to get away from him,’’ her brother, Laderrius Swain said. “That’s what she was trying to do that night.”

A GoFundMe has been started to help the family. Davidson left behind four young children – three daughters and a son – all of whom attended Friday’s vigil.

“They’re hanging in there,’’ Sandrika Davidson said of her nieces and nephew. “They’re so young, I’m not sure it’s impacting them yet.”

Davidson was described a loyal, loving and always laughing.

“She was always there when you needed her,’’ Sandrika Davidson said.

“She touched so many lives in so many different ways,’’ she said. “Now we have to figure out life without her.”