Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson & Julian King

Case background and investigation

On October 24, 2008, three members of Academy Award-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson's family were shot to death in Chicago, Illinois. The victims were Hudson's mother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson; her brother, 29-year-old Jason Hudson; and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, the son of Hudson's older sister, Julia Hudson.

Donerson and Jason Hudson were found shot dead inside the family home on Chicago's South Side that afternoon. Julian King, who had been at the residence, was missing, and authorities issued an Amber Alert. Three days later, on October 27, 2008, the boy's body was discovered inside an abandoned sport utility vehicle on the city's West Side. All three had been killed with a handgun.

Suspicion quickly focused on William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson. Balfour, who was on parole for an earlier attempted murder conviction, had been separated from Julia and no longer lived at the family home. Prosecutors alleged that he carried out the killings in a jealous rage after learning that his estranged wife had begun dating another man. According to the prosecution, Balfour became enraged upon seeing evidence of a gift from Julia's new boyfriend around the time of her birthday.

Balfour was taken into custody and, on December 1, 2008, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and home invasion. He was denied bail at a hearing days later. A grand jury indicted him on December 30, 2008, and on January 20, 2009, Balfour pleaded not guilty to all charges. He maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings.

Because there were no surviving witnesses to the shootings and no fingerprint evidence tying Balfour to the crime scene, prosecutors built a largely circumstantial case. Evidence included the recovery of the murder weapon, a SIG Sauer handgun, and testimony that Balfour had been seen with a similar gun before the killings, along with cell-phone and vehicle evidence. Over roughly 11 days of testimony, the state called approximately 83 witnesses.

On May 11, 2012, after about three days and some 18 hours of deliberation, a Cook County jury found Balfour guilty on all seven counts against him: three counts of first-degree murder, home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, residential burglary, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Jennifer Hudson and members of her family attended much of the trial.

On July 24, 2012, Judge Charles Burns sentenced Balfour to three consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 120 years for the other convictions. At sentencing, Jennifer Hudson and her sister Julia read statements describing the devastation caused by the killings.

Balfour's conviction is a settled legal fact. He pursued appeals of his conviction, which were rejected, and he remains incarcerated in the Illinois state prison system serving his life sentences. The case drew intense national attention because of Jennifer Hudson's fame, and she has continued to speak publicly about the loss of her mother, brother, and nephew in the years since.