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Family celebrates life of Caldwell infant 1 year after her death in hot car

One year after 5-month-old Kyrae Vineyard died in the back seat of a hot car, her family is honoring her life.

CALDWELL - It's been one year since a five-month-old baby girl died after she was left in a hot car for hours.

On Sunday - the one-year anniversary of Kyrae Vineyard's death - family and their friends honored her short life with an emotional celebration of life. The celebration included releasing balloons and going on an 80-mile memorial motorcycle ride.

"I want them to know that she was a very special, special little girl," said Kyrae's mom, Elisa Johnson. "For only five months she had a very amazing personality. She meant a lot to a lot of people."

5-month-old Kyrae Vinyard died in last May when she was left in a hot car for hours. On the one-year anniversary of her death, family and their friends held a memorial in her honor. (Photo: Elisa Johnson)

Last May, Johnson's boyfriend at the time, Haven Hackworth, offered to watch Kyrae while she went to work.

Hackworth took Kyrae along on an errand to a Caldwell car dealership but says he forgot the baby was strapped in her car seat in the back seat. It wasn't until after Hackworth test drove a car and was on his way home with a new car that he realized Kyrae was still at the dealership.

By that point, officials say Kyrae had been in the car for four hours, as the temperature inside reached as high as 120 degrees.

RELATED: Mother of baby who died in hot car: 'His stupid actions caused me to lose my daughter'

Johnson says it's been a very tough year, and it's still difficult to drive anywhere near the car dealership.

"Knowing that we're doing something today and that we plan on doing it every year, it really helps just to be surrounded by people who care," Johnson said.

In November, Hackworth pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter.

He was sentenced to 3-and-a-half years in prison but a judge in the case suspended his sentence. Instead, he will spend nine months in jail and three years on felony probation. He was also ordered to pay $5,000 civil penalty and $1,889 in restitution.

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