Police ask FBI to help find Jennifer Hudson nephew

Kyle Peterson, Reuters
Published: Saturday, October 25, 2008
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago police on Saturday asked the FBI to help find the missing seven-year-old nephew of Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson whose mother and brother were found shot to death a day earlier.

Julian King has been missing since Friday when Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother Jason Hudson, 29, were found dead in Donerson's south side Chicago home.

Chicago police spokesman Daniel O'Brien said the FBI had been asked to assist in the search, which could cross state lines. He said, however, that there was no evidence that King had been taken out of Illinois.


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Actress and singer Jennifer Hudson performs at the Wal-Mart Shareholders Meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas June 6, 2008. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

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Font:****O'Brien declined to confirm various media reports that police had taken William Balfour into custody as a suspect in the double homicide investigation. Balfour, 27, reportedly had a relationship with Hudson's sister and is the father of King.

The Illinois Department of Corrections Web site lists Balfour as having been convicted of attempted murder, car theft and vehicular hijacking. He was released from prison in 2006.

O'Brien said more than one person had been questioned but that no one had been charged with a crime. He did not release any names. On Friday, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said of the murders: "It appears to be domestic related."

Hudson gained fame in 2005 as a contestant on No. 1-rated U.S. television talent show "American Idol." She was one of 12 finalists in the third season but was voted off.

Still, her booming voice and popularity kept her touring in live shows and eventually she earned the role as Effie White in the 2006 film version of stage musical "Dreamgirls."

The role of soulful singer White, who is kicked out of an all-girl 1960s singing group, earned Hudson the Oscar for best supporting actress and made her an instant star in Hollywood.

Since then Hudson has appeared in the movie version of "Sex and the City," and is currently in "The Secret Life of Bees."

Media reports said Hudson was in Florida when she was told of the shootings and was headed back to Chicago.

(Additional reporting by Michael Conlon, editing by Vicki Allen)