First Lady Michelle Obama is expected to attend the funeral of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton who was gunned down last week in Chicago, according to a White House source.
The FLOTUS will reportedly travel to Chicago on Saturday to attend the service with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
The King College Prep honors student was fatally shot Feb. 29 while huddling with a group of friends under a canopy at a local park during a rainstorm. Witnesses said an unidentified boy or man hopped a fence, opened fire on the group– striking Pendleton in the back– and then fled the scene. Police say she was not the intended target.
Pendleton, who performed at President Obama‘s inaugural events just a week earlier, was shot blocks from her school and about a mile from the president’s Chicago home.
A petition started shortly after Pendleton’s death requested President Obama to be in attendance. The young teen’s family pastor confirmed that the president called Hadiya’s parents to offer his condolences, stating, “We thank him for that, and if he does come that’s fine. If he doesn’t, we know he sends his love.”
The reward leading to her killer stands at $40,000.
