People gather along the way when the casket of George Floyd is transported from a funeral to a cemetery in Houston, Texas, the United States, on June 9, 2020. The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he was brought up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua)

 
The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he grew up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis.

Hundreds of people came to say a final goodbye to Floyd at the Fountain of Praise Church. Memorial services had also been held for Floyd in Minneapolis and North Carolina.

Beginning at around 11 a.m. Central Time (1600 GMT), the private funeral service celebrated Floyd's homecoming with over an hour of singing and praying, before families and friends took turns to share their memories of Floyd and his 46 years of life.

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden sent his condolences to Floyd's family via video.

Speaking to Floyd's six-year-old daughter, Gianna, Biden said, "You're so brave... No child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why? Why's daddy gone?"

"Why, in this nation, do too many black Americans wake up knowing that they could lose their life in the course of just living their life? " he continued.

"We cannot leave this moment thinking we can again turn away from racism that stings at our very soul," said the expected Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election. "When there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America."

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced at the funeral that he will sign an executive order banning the city police from using chokeholds and strangleholds.

Officers will also be required to give a warning before shooting, he added.

"We honor him today," said Turner. "Because when he took his last breath, the rest of us will now be able to breathe."

Prominent civil rights activist Al Sharpton, who is also black, delivered the eulogy at the funeral, saying African Americans are "fighting an institutional systemic problem that has been allowed to permeate since we were brought to these shores."

He stressed that lives like Floyd will not matter until "somebody pays the cost for taking their lives."

"Until we know the price of black life is the same as the price for white life, we are going to keep coming back to these situations over and over again. Either the law will work or it won't work," said Sharpton, also founder of the National Action Network.

Floyd is expected to be laid to rest next to his mother, who he called out for during his final moment of suffocation as his neck was under a white police officer's knee.

Floyd's body arrived in Houston Saturday night. On Monday, a public viewing of his body was held at the same church, where thousands of people queued for hours to pay tribute to the man whose death has galvanized a movement calling for racial justice and police reform in the country and beyond.

Protests have been held across the country in the past two weeks with tens of thousands of people showing up, which sometimes ended in late-night violence and looting and thus led to curfews in several cities.

Following his death, some cities and states including New York have announced agendas to address police brutality.

On Monday, House and Senate Democrats unveiled a sweeping police reform bill containing measures to make it easier to prosecute police misconduct and recover damages caused by law enforcement.

People send flowers outside the church where George Floyd's funeral is held in Houston, Texas, the United States, on June 9, 2020. The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he was brought up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua)

 

The casket of George Floyd is transported from a funeral to a cemetery in Houston, Texas, the United States, on June 9, 2020. The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he was brought up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua)

 

People gather along the way when the casket of George Floyd is transported from a funeral to a cemetery in Houston, Texas, the United States, on June 9, 2020. The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he was brought up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua)

 

Police escort the hearse carrying George Floyd's casket from a funeral to a cemetery in Houston, Texas, the United States, on June 9, 2020. The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he was brought up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua)

 

Flowers are seen outside the church where George Floyd's funeral is held in Houston, Texas, the United States, on June 9, 2020. The funeral of African American George Floyd was held Tuesday in the southern U.S. city of Houston, where he was brought up and spent most of his life, two weeks after his tragic death in police custody in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua)