Trial begins for 2 men accused in death of Chicago student

CHICAGO (AP) - Jury selection is starting in the trial of two men charged in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Chicago student just days after she performed with her high school band at then-President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities.

Honor student Hadiya Pendleton was with friends at a park 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from Obama's Chicago home when she was shot in January 2013.

Jury selection for the trial of Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams begins Friday. Testimony is expected to start as soon as Tuesday.

Following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and Hadiya's passing, Obama pushed for gun reforms that Congress didn't enact.

In his 2013 State of the Union address , Obama said Hadiya had become a symbol of the senseless gun violence in Chicago.

This story has been corrected to show one of the suspects is called Micheail Ward, not Michael.

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