Breaking News : Jennifer Hudson's nephew Julian King found dead ??On October 24, 2008, Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, and her 29-year-old brother, Jason, were shot dead inside Donerson's home, in Chicago, Illinois. Likely shot before 3 p.m., they were discovered by Jason's cousin.An AMBER Alert was issued for Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, after Hudson's elder sister, Julia, reported him missing.
On October 24, Chicago police arrested a suspect, William Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia, but he was not charged with any crime.Balfour is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. The Illinois Department of Corrections' records reveal one of Balfour's addresses to be the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were murdered.
Police searching for actress Jennifer Hudson’s missing seven-year-old nephew say they have found the body of a young black boy in a sports utility vehicle.
The missing child, Julian King, has not been seen since Friday, when Hudson’s mother and brother were found shot to death.
The bodies of Julian’s grandmother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, and his uncle Jason Hudson, 29, were discovered lying in the home they shared on the city’s South Side. Police issued an Amber Alert search notice for Julian and were looking for a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban.
Hudson offered a $100,000 reward for her nephew’s safe return.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office and Chicago Police Department sent officials to the scene of a white SUV on the city’s West Side early today. There was no confirmation of the identity of the body, and police have so far refused to comment.
Television footage showed police vehicles escorting a flatbed tow truck as it took the SUV away from the scene. Police later said that the number on the license plate on the vehicle matched the number listed in their earlier alert.
Julian is the son of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson. The police initially identified William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson and stepfather of Julian King, as a suspect in the case. The 27-year-old baker has convictions for attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
He was released from prison in May 2006 and is still on probation. He was not living with his estranged wife at the time of the shooting. The couple had recently fought because Mr Balfour had sold Ms Hudson’s car without her permission, according to local media reports.
On Friday, Chicago police had taken Mr Balfour into custody for questioning over the deaths but the missing boy was not with him.
“We are doing that as a precautionary measure,” Superintendent Jody Weis, of the Chicago police, said in a television interview.
He added that the murders and the child’s disappearance seemed to be part of a domestic dispute. “From what we know right now, it appears to be some type of domestic situation but that is very preliminary. We just have to follow the evidence.”
Yesterday, Mr Balfour was transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections “based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation.”
Januari Smith, a Corrections spokeswoman, said that he would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where he was being held.
Meanwhile, Mr Balfour’s mother protested her son’s innocence. “This is not my son that did this,” a distraught Michele Balfour said. “You cannot say my child did this. He loved Julia. He loved Julia’s mother.”
Julia Hudson, who drives a school bus for a living, made no mention of her estranged husband on Saturday as she addressed the world’s media at Pleasant Gift Mission Baptist Church in the Kenwood district of Chicago. Flanked by Greg King, 29, the father of the missing boy, she pleaded over and over again for her son to be brought back home.
She described the child as a sensitive boy who preferred reading a book or doing some “schooling” to playing outdoors, and said that her Oscar-winning sister had been at her side since flying back to Chicago. “She flew in right away and we have been together ever since,” Ms Hudson said, adding: “We are still in a state of shock. It’s hard. We are together. We sit and we pray. Nothing else to do but pray.”
Ms Hudson, 27, had reportedly encouraged her mother to leave Englewood, the gritty South Side neighbourhood where she grew up, and where her mother had lived for two decades, but her mother had steadfastly refused.
The actress, who crashed out of the US reality series American Idol but went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in Dreamgirls, was in Chicago with her family during the weekend, her sister said. It was she who identified the bodies of her mother and brother.
Last night, Hudson's publicist Lisa Kasteler said: “Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian.”
Records from the Corrections Department show that Mr Balfour is on parole after spending nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, carjacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.
Mr Balfour, 27, has not been charged over the killings. He is not the boy’s father.
Police said they did not have a motive for the double murder but called the case “domestic related”.
Januari Smith, a Corrections spokeswoman, said that Balfour would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where he was being held.
“We are doing that as a precautionary measure,” Superintendent Jody Weis, of the Chicago police, said in a television interview.
He added that the murders and the child’s disappearance seemed to be part of a domestic dispute. “From what we know right now, it appears to be some type of domestic situation but that is very preliminary. We just have to follow the evidence.”
No comments:
Post a Comment