Michelle Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett will fly to Chicago to attend Hadiya Pendleton s funeral.

Pendleton, 15, went to school a mile from President Obama s house and reportedly came to Washington with some classmates for the inaugural weekend. She died Jan. 29 when she and several other teenagers were gunned down while hanging out at a park in Chicago.

Pendleton was among more than 40 people killed in Chicago last month, making January the deadliest month in the city in more than a decade. Her shooting hit home for Obama, who is from Chicago, and has become a rallying cry nationally for the push to enact stricter gun laws.

Jarrett and Duncan also were longtime Chicago residents before moving to Washington to serve in the administration. Jarrett was a top aide to former Chicago mayor Richard Daley, while Duncan was chief executive of Chicago public schools.