Thousands say farewell to slain singer Christina Grimmie at hometown service - Action News
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Thousands say farewell to slain singer Christina Grimmie at hometown service

Thousands of friends and fans said farewell to The Voice singer Christina Grimmie at services in New Jersey Friday.

Family of The Voice musician got condolences from fans ahead of emotional memorial service

Christina Grimmie's mother Tina is comforted by her husband Bud as she speaks during her daughter's memorial service Friday. (Chris LaChall/The Associated Press)

Thousands of friends and fans said farewell to The Voicesinger Christina Grimmie at services in New JerseyFriday.

Grimmie's family received condolences for five hours before an emotional memorial service was held. The singer's music was played and a large picture of her was displayed on an easel.

People hug while waiting in line at the chapel where Grimmie's service was held. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/The Associated Press)

The 22-year-old was shot to death last week as she signed autographs after a show in Orlando, Florida. Her assailant fatally shot himself.

Among those present Friday night were Alissa and Joseph Canto. The husband and wife from outside Rochester, N.Y., said they drove sevenhours to come to the services at Fellowship Alliance Chapel.

The couple, both 24, said they've been fans since Grimmie launched her YouTube channel as a high school student.

Photographs of Christina Grimmie are displayed as people pay their respects during a memorial service held for her at Fellowship Alliance Chapel in Medford, N.J. Grimmie, a rising pop star from Evesham, was gunned down a week ago while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, Fla. (Chris LaChall/The Associated Press)

"We have been fans for years but we didn't know how much we appreciated her until she passed," Alissa Canto said.

Garret Lang of Pennsylvania attended the services with several other fans who called themselves Team Grimmie.

"What I liked about her most was she didn't just treat her fans like fans, she treated them more special than fans," Lang told The Courier Post. "She treated them like friends or like family members, even without knowing them."

Grimmie performs as part of The Voice Tour at Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta in this 2014 file photo. (Robb D. Cohen/Invision/Associated Press)

Authorities said Grimmie was gunned down by Kevin Loibl the night of June 10 as she signed autographs after the Orlando show.

A motive for the shooting has not been determined. Authorities said she had no personal connection to Loibl, who fatally shot himself after being tackled by her brother.

Grimmie was buried in a private ceremony Thursday.

Pop star Adam Levine, who mentored Grimmie when she finished third on The Voice,offered to pay for the funeral expenses.

Christina Grimmie and Adam Levine high five while onstage at the iHeartRadio album release party with Maroon 5 on Aug. 26, 2014 in Burbank, Calif. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Clear Channel)

Grimmie was a YouTube star who was widely known from her appearances on NBC's The Voicetwo years ago.

She lived in Evesham, a small community about 20 miles from Philadelphia, before moving to Los Angeles in 2012.

Grimmie often cited her mother's ongoing battle with breast cancer as her musical inspiration, including during her first appearance on The Voicein 2014, where her mother sobbed in the wings at her rendition of Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball.

Her killing was the first of three tragedies for Orlando in the last week. Early Sunday, a massacre at gay nightclub Pulse left 49 dead in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. On Tuesday, a 2-year-old Nebraska boy was attacked by an alligator and killed at Walt Disney World.