Hudson on witness list for upcoming murder trial

[February 29, 2012]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson is on the witness list for the upcoming Chicago trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in 2008, according to court documents.

But prosecutors haven't yet disclosed whether Hudson will actually testify at the April 9 trial of William Balfour, who was the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia.

Hudson told investigators that she talked to her mother in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood every day and knew something was wrong when she hadn't heard from her by late in the morning of Oct. 24, 2008, according to the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/A0uDM9).

Several hours later, Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were found shot to death in the family's home. The body of her nephew Julian King, who was Julia Hudson's child from a previous relationship, was found days later in a vehicle several miles away. Police recovered a gun from bushes near the vehicle and have linked it to the shootings.

Hudson told investigators she'd known Balfour since childhood and had advised her sister against marrying him. She said the family didn't find out about their 2006 marriage until months after it happened. Prosecutors have argued that Balfour killed the family because he was angry that Julia Hudson was dating another man.

Jennifer Hudson, 30, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls," was in Chicago with her family about five days before the killings. She said she'd last been at the family home about two months earlier.

___

Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.