Archive for the 'Jennifer Hudson' Category

Jennifer Hudson’s estranged brother-in-law William Balfour, who was arrested this week in the October murders of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew, “did not commit these crimes,” the man’s lawyer tells PEOPLE.

“The delay between the crimes and his actual arrest show weaknesses in the case,” attorney Joshua Kutnick says. “This case is not a strong case against William. He is a convenient suspect.”

Balfour was formally charged Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion, says Cook County Attorney’s Office spokesman Andy Conklin. Balfour is scheduled to appear Wednesday at a bond hearing.

He was transferred Monday from an Illinois state prison – where he has been held on suspicion of a parole violation – back into Chicago police custody.

Balfour, 27, who is separated from Hudson’s sister, Julia, was arrested in the first-degree murders of Hudson’s mother Darnell Donerson, 57, brother Jason Hudson, 29, and his own stepson, Julian King, 7.

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Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson on Monday in the deaths of the entertainer’s mother, brother and young nephew, taking him from a prison where he had been held on a suspected parole violation.

William Balfour was arrested at Stateville Correctional Center and released to detectives as he awaited formal charges in the shooting deaths of the singer and Oscar-winning actress’ relatives, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Until Monday, police had identified Balfour, 27, only as a “person of interest” in the investigation. He had not been charged by late Monday afternoon, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

The bodies of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered Oct. 24 at the family’s home on the South Side of Chicago. The body of 7-year-old Julian King was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the West Side. All three had been shot.

Police took Balfour into custody the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours — the longest Chicago police can hold a person without charges — Balfour was taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections on the suspected parole violation.

Balfour — Julian’s stepfather and the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s older sister, Julia Hudson — served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

His mother, Michelle Balfour of Chicago, has denied that her son had anything to do with the deaths. Telephone numbers for Balfour’s mother and sister were disconnected Monday.

Balfour had refused to take a lie-detector test and stopped cooperating with detectives in the case, a police official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, has said.

Police have confirmed they found the gun used in the killings. The .45-caliber gun was discovered Oct. 29 in a vacant lot in the West Side neighborhood where the King’s body was found a few days earlier.

Bond declined to discuss any evidence Monday. But after a hearing at the prison, the chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board said a woman had told authorities that a gun used in the slayings was “identical” to the gun that was recovered.

At the time, board Chairman Jorge Montes said the evidence was key to a decision finding probable cause that Balfour violated his parole and should remain locked up pending a Dec. 3 hearing before a review board panel.

Balfour did not have an attorney at the November hearing, and the Cook County public defender’s office said at the time that nobody from the office had been assigned because he was not formally charged with a crime.

No one in the public defender’s office was assigned to Balfour’s case late Monday, and it’ was not clear whether he had other representation.

Donald Trump doesn’t just have the golden touch for business – he also has a heart of gold.

The real-estate mogul has been housing Jennifer Hudson and some of her relatives at the Trump International Hotel & Tower free of charge.

“She’s a great girl. And we’re protecting them well,” Trump told PEOPLE at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night. “They are very safe.”

Hudson has been seeking refuge at the Trump holding since her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in Chicago on Oct. 24.

Trump’s largesse was first reported by E! Online.

The man police have called a suspect in the murder of actress Jennifer Hudson’s family finds out Monday whether he’ll remain in prison for violating his parole or go free while investigators continue to investigate the triple slaying.

William Balfour, 27, was on parole for a 1999 attempted murder conviction when linked to the Oct. 24 murders of his estranged wife’s brother, mother and 7-year-old son. He has not been charged in the case, but his parole was revoked and he was returned to prison after 48 hours of questioning by Chicago detectives.

Balfour, who is married to the Oscar-winning actress’ sister, Julia Hudson, has been held at Stateville Correctional Center on the outskirts of Joliet since Oct. 26.

Monday at 9 a.m. he will have a hearing at Stateville before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which will determine whether evidence in the case constitutes a violation of Balfour’s parole for the 1999 conviction, state officials said.

A state investigator will present evidence to the board at the preliminary hearing, which Balfour will have a chance to rebut before a decision is made, said Kenneth Tupy, attorney for the review board. If the board finds probable cause to believe Balfour has committed a crime, or violated his parole in some other manner, he’ll be held for further hearings.

If the board finds that Balfour has not violated his parole, he could be set free Monday.

Balfour acknowledged being at the Hudson’s Englewood home on the morning that the actress’ mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson, were gunned down inside the house, law enforcement sources said. Julia Hudson’s son, Julian, was abducted from the home and his body discovered three days later, shot twice in the head and slumped in the back of Jason Hudson’s Chevy Suburban on a West Side street.

Balfour’s current girlfriend also told police that he told her he had been involved in the killings of Donerson and Hudson, sources said.

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The convicted felon suspected in the killings of the mother, brother and nephew of singer Jennifer Hudson has a parole hearing Monday and could be released if an administrative officer finds no reason to hold him.

No one has been charged in the shootings, but authorities have called 27-year-old William Balfour a “person of interest.”

Balfour is in custody on a parole violation. He is the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, sister of the singer and actress.

The chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Jorge Montes (HOR’-hay MON’-tehs), says that if an administrative officer finds cause to continue holding Balfour, the case then would go to a review board for a hearing.

However, Montes says “conceivably” Balfour could be released.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the investigation of the killings is continuing and is independent of the prisoner review board’s decisions.

As the two-hour wake for her mother, brother and nephew came to an end, Jennifer Hudson approached their coffins and spent a few moments with each.

She paused at the casket of her 7-year-old nephew Julian, then moved on, gently touching the body of her mother. Composed, the 27-year actress and singer, leaned down to kiss her mother goodbye. She paused again before her brother’s casket before taking her seat.

The three-hour funeral reached an emotional peak when American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino sang a gospel classic, “Your Grace and Mercy”. Calling the Hudsons “my family,” she walked off the stage and into the aisle where she took Jennifer’s hand and sang directly to the actress.

“I think it healed Jennifer’s soul just then,” said family friend, Lisa Allison.

The funeral ended shortly afterward and now the funeral procession is being led to the cemetery by a horse-drawn carriage.

The service comes ten days after Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, her brother, Jason, were found shot to death in the family’s South Side home. Her nephew, Julian King, was found shot in the head a few days later in a sport-utility vehicle.

After more than two hours of eulogies and scriptures, the service is continuing this afternoon with gospel music and happy memories. The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley spoke during the funeral.

The Hudson family will be buried at Oak Woods Cemetery on the South Side.

Earlier this morning, about 200 people holding blue admittance slips started filing into the invitation-only service at Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Ave.

Some fans, however, showed up in hopes of getting in and extending their sympathies to Jennifer and Julia Hudson.

“The crime wave has to stop,” said Glover Lewis, who lives in Englewood but does not know the family. “We have to stop killing each other. We have a lot of work to do.”

The funeral has snarled traffic, causing back ups for several blocks on 63rd Street and forcing CTA officials to consider rerouting buses.

Police have shut down side streets around the church to keep the news media away and give celebrity mourners a private entrance. They stopped cars and demanded tickets from anyone trying to enter the church parking lot..

On Sunday, about 100 people gathered at Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church for a private memorial service. Afterward, thousands of mourners filed into the small hall, writing condolence notes on cards bearing images of the three victims.

No one has been charged in the killings, but police have called the boy’s estranged stepfather “a person of interest.”

Today, Elliott Carson parked and made his way into the long and growing line. He said he has been friends with the Hudson family since he was 10, having grown up in the same neighborhood and attended the same schools.

“I’m coming to say goodbye to another one of my friends,” Carson said, shaking his head.

Police have shut down the 6300 block of Dorchester Avenue in front of the church as the crowd grows, including a large cluster of news media with a line of cameras almost blocking access to a nearby bus shelter.

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