The mother and 29-year-old brother of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were found shot to death inside their Chicago home yesterday, some seven hours after neighbours first reported hearing gunfire.
The body of Hudson's mother Darnell Donnerson was found on the living room floor by a family member who entered the house just before 3 p.m.; her brother Jason was found dead in a bedroom.
One of the victims, police said, had defensive wounds; there was no sign of forced entry.
Family pastor Willie Davis of Progressive Baptist Church said Hudson, who has so far made no comment, was rushing home from Florida last night.
"They found Jennifer's mother and her brother murdered in her mother's home this afternoon," Davis told Chicago CNN affiliate CLTV.
Police were talking to "a number of people in custody" last night, police spokesperson Monique Bond told the Associated Press.
Hudson, who rose to fame with her American Idol appearances in 2005, and won an Oscar in 2007 for best supporting actress for her role as Effie White in the film Dreamgirls, was in Tampa at the time.
Police spokesperson Monique Bond said the deaths appeared to be the result of a domestic disturbance, but did not elaborate.
Authorities quickly issued an Amber Alert for 7-year-old Julian King, Donnerson's grandson and Hudson's nephew. He was reported missing from the home by his mother, Hudson's sister Julia, who works as a Chicago bus driver.
Officers were also looking for William Balfour, who they say is a suspect in the double homicide.
According to a police bulletin, he is described as "armed and dangerous."
Balfour, who had been staying at the house, pleaded guilty in 1999 to attempted murder and vehicular hijacking, court records show. He was also convicted in 1998 of possessing a stolen motor vehicle.
"We have some promising leads, but it's very preliminary right now," said deputy police chief Joseph Patterson.
Investigators said Balfour may be driving a white 1994 Chevrolet Suburban, registered to Jason Hudson, which is missing from the home.
Some neighbours living near the big white house on South Yale Ave. reported hearing multiple shots around 8 a.m., but the bodies – Donnerson shot in the head, her son shot in the chest – weren't found until 2:44 p.m., when a cousin entered the house, spotted Donnerson's body, and called police.
According to local media reports, the cousin notified police who entered the house and found the body of Hudson's brother.
In an interview last year with Vogue, Hudson – who grew up in Chicago – credited her mother with the decision to audition for American Idol, which launched her career.
In a recent interview, Hudson – whose father died when she was a teenager – credited her family for keeping her grounded.
"My faith in God and my family, they're very realistic and very normal, they're not into the whole limelight kind of thing, so when I go home to Chicago, that's just another place that's home," she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment