A day after skipping yesterday's public memorial, Jennifer Hudson joined family members and celebrity friends—invites went out to the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah and Fantasia Barrino—this morning in Chicago for a private service for the Oscar winner's slain mother, brother and nephew.
Roughly 200 people attended the invite-only closed-casket service, which took place at the Apostolic Church of God on the city's South Side at 9 a.m.
Police were on hand from the early morning hours to direct traffic away from the building and keep spectators at bay while a procession that included a school bus, three hearses and several limos arrived at the church.
Several precautionary measures were taken to ensure the Hudson family's mourning could take place in private, including plastic partitions around the rear of the church to block looky-loos and video crews, as well as the closure of surrounding side streets.
Mourners gathered to celebrate the three victims of last month's tragedy, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, 29-year-old Jason Hudson and 7-year-old Julian King. All died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Though it remains unclear who, besides Hudson and her sister, Julia (Julian's mother), attended the service, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that it may have been a star-studded memorial.
According to the newspaper, Hudson's fellow American Idol alum Barrino was expected to sing at the service, while Winfrey, Latifah, Clive Davis, Patti LaBelle, Missy Elliott, Ciara and Usher were among those scheduled to attend.
The investigation into the trio's deaths is ongoing, and while no arrests have yet been made, William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, remains in custody and has been named as a person of interest.
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