Jennifer Hudson made an emotional speech as she paid tribute to her murdered nephew as he was honored in Chicago.

Jennifer's estranged brother-in-law William Balfour was given three life sentences in July 2012 after being convicted of breaking into the family's home in October 2008 and murdering her mother Darnell Donerson and her brother Jason Hudson.

Jennifer's seven-year-old nephew Julian King was reported missing, and was later tragically found shot dead in the back of an abandoned car three days later.

A street sign named in honor of Julian was unveiled on Friday (17Jun16) in Chicago, and the Dreamgirls star cried as she paid tribute to her beloved nephew.

"Julian was beautiful and how you know that is when you can see how someone can still impact your life in their absence," Jennifer said. "Julian was only seven years old, but in those seven years he lived a life and he left an imprint on all of us... He used to always say, 'I want the world to know my name.'"

The street sign for Honorary Julian D. King Way was erected at 44th Street and Sacramento, near the youngster's former school, Gunsaulus Scholastic Academy in the Brighton Park neighborhood.

Julian's mother and Jennifer's sister, Julia Hudson, also spoke at the emotional ceremony.

"Words cannot express what this means," she stated. "It's wonderful. His legacy will live on forever."

Jennifer shared snaps from the day on Instagram, and captioned a shot of the street sign bathed in sunlight: "Look how the sun is shining right above the street sign that now says Julian D. King."

She also posted an emotional photo of her sibling Julia holding the street sign, simply writing alongside it: "A mothers (sic) love never dies!"

Last year (15), the Oscar-winning actress opened up to Glamour magazine about the tragedy that hit her family, and how having her own child with fiance David Otunga helped her with the grief.

"I went from being an aunt, having a mom, and being a child to not having a mom, becoming a mom, and raising my own child," Jennifer said about her son David, who is now 6 years old. "I tell David all the time, 'You saved my life'."