(MCT) — WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama, the Illinois governor and Chicago’s mayor will attend Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral on Saturday, but the family of the slain teenager is determined to hold a service that looks past politics and celebrates the life of a 15-year-old girl lost to street violence.

The shooting death of the King College Prep honor student last week put an international spotlight on Chicago at a time when gun violence is at the center of an intense debate in Washington and across the country. Hadiya, who was killed about a mile from President Barack Obama’s Kenwood home just days after performing in inaugural festivities near Washington, quickly became a symbol of innocent victims in a rising tide of murders.