Singer Jennifer Hudson's mom, brother found dead -- Body of Nephew Possible Found

[Dirty]

By RUPA SHENOY
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO — The personal publicist of Jennifer Hudson said Chicago police are investigating the deaths of the Oscar-winning actress' mother and brother, who were found shot dead at their South Side home. Lisa Kasteler said Friday that no further comment will be made about the deaths of Darnell Donerson and Jason Hudson.
Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said investigators also seek a missing child who is Donerson's grandson. She said the deaths appear to be the result of domestic abuse.

(enlarge photo) In this Tuesday, May 27, 2008 file photo, Jennifer Hudson attends the premiere of 'Sex and the City' at Radio City Music Hall in New York. At least one of two people found shot dead Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 at a South Side Chicago home was believed to be a relative of Jennifer Hudson, and police were seeking a missing child who might also be related to the singer and Oscar-winning actress. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

Police said the boy, Julian King, is accompanied by a man who is "considered armed and dangerous." They've issued an Amber Alert for a white Chevy Suburban or a teal or green Chrysler Concord.
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October 24, 2008 - 8:48 p.m. Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.


Singer Jennifer Hudson's mom, brother found dead | AccessAtlanta

[IDENTITY]

god i just read about this....so tragic. her sister and newphew are missing, too. very very very sad.... my prayers go out to poor jennifer.. gosh she will have to be very strong to get through this.

[oscar]

I've never heard of this heifer. Who is she?

[Dirty]

Google her

she is one of the best young singers and actors in the game... She got robbed in American Idol 5-6 years ago... and the people who finished ahead of her are out of the Biz and she is winning Oscars...

I highly Suggest you watch Dreamgirls with her, Beyonce, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, and Jamie Foxx in it.... loosely based on the Supremes.... Great Fucking Movie... It is a Musical, but it is good... Eddie Murphy was OUTSTANDING!!!!


Dreamgirls (2006)

Dreamgirls Movie - Starring Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles - Official Site

Dreamgirls (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[cassiusclay]

i just got a visual of you sitting in a lazyboy in your boxers and wife beater with a box of kleenex sobbing hysterically watching dreamgirls.

it wasn't pretty.

[Dirty]

i just got a visual of you sitting in a lazyboy in your boxers and wife beater with a box of kleenex sobbing hysterically watching dreamgirls.

it wasn't pretty.

[Dirty]

Jennifer Hudson asks public to help find nephew, 7

By RUPA SHENOY
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO — Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson appealed on Sunday for the public's help in finding her 7-year-old nephew, missing since the shooting deaths of her mother and brother.
City police transferred custody of the man labeled a "person of interest" in the shooting deaths to state authorities.

(enlarge photo) A photo released Oct. 24, 2008, by the Chicago Police Department shows 7-year-old Julian King. Chicago Police issued an Amber Alert Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 for King, who police say may be related to singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson. Julia Hudson pleaded for the safe return of her 7-year-old son, Julian King, on Saturday Oct. 25, 2008, a day after Julia and Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death at the family home in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/Chicago Police Department)

An Amber Alert remained in effect Sunday for young Julian King, who disappeared on Friday, the day the bodies of his grandmother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old uncle Jason Hudson were found in the home they all shared on the city's South Side. The deaths were ruled homicides.
The Amber Alert listed William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson, as a suspect in a "double homicide investigation." Julia Hudson is the missing boy's mother
Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said authorities considered Balfour a "person of interest" in the case but he had not been charged.
Authorities said the search for Julian would be citywide, but on Sunday residents and officers focused their efforts "in the immediate vicinity" of the family's home in the Englewood section, said police spokesman Dan O'Brien.
Police said they did not have a motive for the killings but called the case "domestic related."
"There's a lot of forensic evidence. We have to work the evidence and try and solve this case," Bond said Sunday. "Most importantly, we want to find the child."
Bond said no weapon had been found at the Hudson home, a three-story house sandwiched by vacant lots littered with trash. On Sunday, investigators moved in and out of the home and examined the trash.
Police officers were instructed to place fliers with Julian King's picture and description in every business in the area.
Jennifer Hudson, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls, was in Chicago with her family during the weekend, her sister said. A publicist did not disclose her whereabouts.
In a MySpace blog entry on Sunday, Hudson said she was grateful for community support and posted a picture of her sister's son.
"Thank you all for your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely," the blog entry said. "If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately ... Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time."
Bond said Balfour, who had been in police custody since Friday, was transferred Sunday to the Illinois Department of Corrections "based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation."
Records from the corrections department show Balfour, 27, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.
Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said Balfour would likely remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say exactly where Balfour was being held.
It was unclear if Balfour had an attorney to speak for him Sunday, but his mother, Michele Balfour, has denied that he was involved the killings or in Julian's disappearance.
During a public plea Saturday for the boy's return, Julia Hudson described her son as a smart, sensitive and easygoing child.
"He's not your typical 7-year-old," she told a crowd at the family's Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side. She was joined by the boy's father, Greg King.
Hudson said she last saw her son Thursday night when they went out to dinner to celebrate her 31st birthday. Afterward, she said, she took Julian to the home she shared with her mother and brother, handed him to his grandmother and everyone went to sleep.
Julia Hudson said Saturday that she was confident her son was still alive and that she was praying for his return.
"Momma's looking for you. I'm not going to stop until you come home," she said.
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Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen contributed to this report.
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October 26, 2008 - 2:09 p.m. Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.




Jennifer Hudson asks public to help find nephew, 7 | ajc.com

[Dirty]

Body of child found on West Side may be Julian King

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October 27, 2008

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS
The body of a male child was found Monday morning in a white suburban on the West Side, and authorities were investigating whether it was Julian King, the 7-year-old nephew of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson.
Officials from the Medical Examiner's Office have been called to the scene at 1313 S. Kolin Ave. after receiving a report of a black male child being found in an SUV.
» Click to enlarge image
The body of a boy was found in the 1300 block of South Kolin Ave. Authorities say the body could be that of 7-year-old Julian King.
(NBC5)




Julian went missing from the crime scene Friday where the bodies of the mother and brother of Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were found in their home in the 7000 block of South Yale Avenue.
A white Chevrolet Suburban SUV was also found on the scene, according to media reports, police declined to comment on those reports as of 8:20 a.m.
About 3 p.m. Friday, the bodies of 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, Jennifer Hudson’s mother and 29-year-old Jason Hudson, her brother, were found at the 7000 block of South Yale, inside their home, police said. The shooting is believed to be domestic-related. Neighbors said they heard gunshots between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday morning, authorities said.
A family member found the bodies. The mother was found on the living room floor; the brother was found in a bedroom. The crime didn’t appear to be a robbery, police said, and the door to the home was not locked when the family member arrived.
After the two bodies were found, missing from the crime scene was Donerson’s grandson, 7-year-old Julian, who was possibly taken from the house in the Englewood neighborhood, Chicago police said. He was in a white 1994 Chevrolet Suburban SUV with Illinois license plate X584859, police said.
Wentworth Area detectives are investigating.




Body of child found on West Side may be Julian King :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

[The General]

Very sad to read such stories like this.

[Dirty]

Triple tragedy leaves Hudson career at crossroads

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
AP Music Writer
NEW YORK — Just a month ago, a bubbly Jennifer Hudson — who had been striking gold with just about everything she touched — was running down the list of all the projects that she expected would soon dominate her life.
Already an Oscar-winning actress, the 25-year-old was about to release her first album, which would become an instant best-seller, and a new movie, "The Secret Life of Bees." But the entertainer saw so much more in her future.

(enlarge photo) A photo released Oct. 24, 2008, by the Chicago Police Department shows 7-year-old Julian King. Chicago Police issued an Amber Alert Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 for King, who police say may be related to singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson. Julia Hudson pleaded for the safe return of her 7-year-old son, Julian King, on Saturday Oct. 25, 2008, a day after Julia and Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death at the family home in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/Chicago Police Department)

"I am planning on touring," she said, rattling off a list of her upcoming priorities. "There's more films and more music and stuff like that ... I want to start a fashion line as well, start writing music."
There were also plans of a big wedding to new fiance David Otunga.
"It's gonna be a production," she gushed. "I have so many visions for it right now — I get to put that together."
But on Monday, Hudson's priority was to identify the body of a child believed to be her 7-year-old nephew Julian — apparently the third victim in a killing spree that had already claimed her mother and brother. She had identified their bodies a couple of days before.
Her Hollywood goals now seem a world away, and after suffering such a devastating blow, it's unclear when — if ever — she will reclaim them.
"This is really something no one can really deal with, and you never fully recover from something like this," said Harvey Mason, who has written and produced songs for Hudson and considers her a friend. "But she's a very strong person, and she's got a great heart, and I'm just sad something like this has had to enter into her life."
Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson, were killed in the family's home in a homicide police have described as domestic in nature. Her sister Julia's 7-year-old son, Julian, was declared missing, along with a white truck taken from the scene.
On Monday, after a weekend of pleas from both Julia and Jennifer Hudson — who had offered $100,000 Sunday for information leading to the boy's safe return — police found the truck and the body of a 7-year-old child inside who they later said was Julian.
Police have been questioning William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson who is in custody. Balfour is not the boy's father and has not been charged in the slayings.
Although Hudson has spoken out from her MySpace.com page, thanking fans for their support, she has been in seclusion in Chicago. All public events that she had scheduled over the next week or so have been canceled, and a planned video shoot for her new single "If It Isn't Love," which was to take place starting Monday in Los Angeles, was also abandoned.
The triple homicide came as Hudson's career continued on the white-hot streak that began with her Oscar-winning role in the movie "Dreamgirls." The singer had first come to prominence as a big-voiced finalist on "American Idol" in 2005, but floundered in her career.
Without a record deal and only no-name producers to work with, she even began to wonder if a music career was ever going to happen for her.
"After 'Idol,' I didn't have a manager, I didn't have an agent, none of that," she said. "I just had random producers."
That all changed when she was cast in the movie adaptation of the classic Broadway musical. The movie's stars included Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy — but it was Hudson who stole scene after scene, and landed an Academy Award in 2007 for best supporting actress for the portrayal of the troubled singer Effie.
After that, Hudson also appeared in summer hit "Sex and the City," and has a supporting role in the movie "The Secret Life of Bees," in theaters now. Meanwhile, she was at work on her self-titled album, which debuted at No. 2 on the charts earlier this month and has spawned the hit single, "Spotlight."
In addition to those achievements, she also was selected to sing the national anthem before Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. She called the experience "the most overwhelming and meaningful thing to date that I've done." When asked it she was registered to vote, she laughed and said: "I'm registered definitely — my mom would have it no other way!"
Hudson was particularly close to her family, and members were usually on hand during the major milestones in her career, including her Oscar win.
"They came out for a lot of awards, things like that. The family was a very close knit family, as far as I can tell, all very sweet and supportive," said Mason, who recalled meeting her family and how proud Jennifer was to introduce them to people. "Jennifer's family seemed to be a big part of her support structure."
Mason has yet to speak with Hudson, but said he had extended his support and prayers, along with a host of other celebrity friends and supporters.
The songwriter and producer, who worked with Hudson on the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack and also her new album, said he'd never encountered a situation where a celebrity had endured such a tragedy, so he couldn't imagine how it might affect her career.
Hudson said last month that she didn't have a specific movie project in the works, and talks of a tour were preliminary — no dates have been set. A representative for her label, Arista Records, said it was too early to talk about how the tragedy might affect the promotion of her CD. The label released this statement of support: "On behalf of the RCA Music Group and Arista Records, we send our deepest sympathies and condolences to Jennifer and her family during this difficult time."
"I think it could affect her career; It's going to take some time for her to get back on the road, back in promotion," said Mason. "She's definitely not going to feel like doing too much phone interviews, radio interviews. I just think it's going to take her a minute to recover, but as I said, she's a very strong person, and she's very talented. It's hard for me to guess how it would impact her in the long haul."
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On the Net:
Music videos, Music, Dreamgirls - jenniferhudson.com
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October 27, 2008 - 5:28 p.m. Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[Dirty]

Police: Child's body found in SUV is Hudson nephew

By SOPHIA TAREEN
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO — Chicago police say singer and actress Jennifer Hudson has identified the body of her 7-year-old nephew, who was found dead Monday morning in an SUV.
Julian King had been missing since Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death in the home they shared Friday. Police spokeswoman Monique Bond says the boy also had been shot.

(enlarge photo) David Burrell, a friend of the Hudson family wipes tears after praying at a makeshift memorial outside the home belonging to the family of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson in Chicago, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson and brother Jason Hudson were found dead. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Julian had been the subject of a frantic search since the killings, which police have characterized as "domestic related."
Police say Hudson was among seven family members and close friends who identified the body from a video image at the Cook County Medical Examiner's office Monday.
No one has been charged in the slayings. Authorities have been questioning the estranged husband of Hudson's sister.
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October 27, 2008 - 5:45 p.m. Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.




Police: Child's body found in SUV is Hudson nephew | ajc.com

[Gambling Fanatic]

Horrible to happen to anybody.