Loved ones gather in honor of Racine bartender on what would be her 42nd birthday

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Family and friends of a beloved bartender shot to death in her Racine home last summer came together Tuesday night. This would have been Becky Rannow's 42nd birthday.

So many people loved Becky that friends spread out in two locations Tuesday night. At one place, they played her favorite game, darts, and a little earlier they met up at the last place Becky called home.

Forty-two purple balloons were released at Edgewood and St. Patrick on what would have been Rannow's 42nd birthday.

"I mean it means a lot, right, this is where she spent her last moments. So I feel a little closer to her right now," said Neda Salinas, Becky's friend.

Rannow was found dead last summer in a home she previously shared with an ex. The beloved bartender was shot multiple times, her pit bull found in another room of the home. 

"I don't know, hurt. It still hurts. It doesn't get better," said Amanda Gonzales, Becky's friend.

Family and friends comforted each other and remembered happier times in the space.

"The summers would be the best over here. We would do fireworks over here on the Fourth of July," said Darian Satterwhite, Becky's nephew.

Rannow's alleged killer, Montreal Greer, at one time stayed in the home with Rannow and her ex. He's now awaiting trial. 

"So we want to see how that goes, if anything. We hope we get justice," said Satterwhite.

At Maxine's Bar in Racine, a second balloon release for the beloved bartender. And later, a game of darts in her honor.

"Her memory will always be here. We'll always make sure we are keeping it alive. That is the one thing he couldn't take from us," said Gonzales.

"She's just, she's missed a lot, so much. I'd give anything, you know, for a moment," said Salinas.

The trial of Montreal Greer starts next week.