3 November 2008 4:20 AM, PST | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news
Hundreds of mourners remembered Jennifer Hudson's late mother, brother and nephew at a memorial service on Sunday, where the star was hailed as the "true leader" of her family.
The singer/actress' mum, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson, were found shot to death at their home in Chicago, Illinois on 24 October, while the body of seven-year-old Julian King was discovered three days later in an abandoned car in the city.
Hudson was not in attendance at her childhood church, Pleasant Gift Memorial Baptist, where her cousin Shari Sweat told those gathered that Donerson had voted just before she was fatally shot, reports the New York Daily News.
Sweat said, "Doll refused to be left out of this historical moment in this nation, and before she left these shores she cast her vote."
King's teacher Carmen Williams of Gunsaulus Scholastic Academy remembered her pupil as a smart boy who liked to tell jokes, while his classmate lamented that he wouldn't "get to be president of the United States".
Chicago city official Sean Howard told the congregation, "When Jennifer and her family walked in, Jennifer was a pillar in that room. You have a true leader in your family in Jennifer."
Dreamgirls star Hudson and her sister Julia, the boy's mother and estranged wife of murder suspect William Balfour, are expected at the private funeral service on Monday.
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