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Families Mourn Loved Ones At State's Attorney's Victims' Memorial

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Several hundred people who all shared something in common -- the violent loss of a loved one -- gathered Saturday at the UIC Forum to share, remember and heal.

As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports, the first thing everyone saw at the Cook County State's Attorney's Victims' Memorial were photos of the victims – most smiling in graduation gowns, military uniforms, favorite T-shirts or dresses –e ach unaware of the endings that lay ahead.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports

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Inside, the music was provided by the extended family of singer Jennifer Hudson, who endured the trial and conviction in May of William Balfour, the former in-law who killed Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson; her brother, Jason Hudson; and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.

State's Attorney Anita Alvarez sought to bring a sense of peace with vigilance.

"Please do not lose your sense of outrage over the senseless," Alvarez said.

One woman who attended lost her daughter in an August hit-and-run.

"With all the crimes that's happening all over the world, this is a good thing that everybody came together, as one," she said. "You think you're in it all by yourself, and you're not the only one."

But Alvarez it saddens her that she still has to display the photos.

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