Murder of Jason Hudson
The murder of 29-year-old Jason Hudson, his nephew, Julian King, and his mother Darnell Donerson occurred on October 24, 2008. Two of them were discovered shot to death inside Donerson's home in Chicago, Illinois. The victims were the brother and mother of singer Jennifer Hudson. Jennifer's seven-year-old nephew Julian King, the son of her elder sister Julia Hudson, was initially reported missing and an Amber alert was issued; Julian King's body was found on October 27 in Chicago's West Side area, in a parked car matching the Amber alert description. Autopsy results indicated that Julian King's death was due to "multiple gunshot wounds." A pistol found in a West Side vacant lot was confirmed as the murder weapon by Chicago police.
Investigation
On the day that the bodies of Hudson's mother and brother were discovered, Chicago police took Julia Hudson's estranged husband William Balfour, 27, into custody and he confessed. Balfour was 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.After the Chicago police had held Balfour for the maximum 48 hours allowable without charging him with a crime, he was held by the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation. At the November 10, 2008, parole hearing, the prisoner review board was told by the Cook County State's Attorney's office that Balfour's current or former girlfriend told investigators she saw Balfour with a gun identical to the murder weapon several days before the murder occurred. Board chairman Jorge Montes said that although Balfour may have violated other conditions of his parole, including failing to get anger management and substance abuse counseling, the gun allegation alone was sufficient to hold Balfour until a December 3 hearing before the full Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Montes said that the allegations from the woman included that Balfour had admitted to her that he was involved in the murders, but those allegations were not part of the parole review hearing. Balfour appeared at the hearing without an assigned attorney because he had not been charged with a crime.