I remember it like yesterday—a grim discovery inside an Illinois home. I was just picking up my bags to head to my mother’s house when we got the news from the medical examiner: the victims included an adult woman and an adult man. David was heading out to train in Florida, and he called me, saying, “Can you come out here instead of going?” I replied, “Okay, sure.” The home where the bodies were found belonged to the family of singer and Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson.
“That one decision, that one change—you would have been there. Do you know what happened?”
“She followed? No, I couldn’t get home from work. There was a bullet in my front door, so I would have been home sleeping in bed with her.”
“So, do you think about that? I could have been in that house, and do you think he would—”
On October 24, 2008, nothing could have prepared Jennifer Hudson for the discovery her sister was about to make. Around 3 p.m., Jennifer’s older sister Julia returned from work to the Hudson family home, where they had lived for most of their lives. As she approached the entrance, she expected to be greeted by her 7-year-old son Julian, who stayed home from school that day, being watched over by her mother Darnell and her older brother Jason. But as she was about to step inside, she was shocked to find a bullet hole in the front door. She opened the door and was immediately struck by the sight of her mother’s lifeless body. In a panic, Julia ran out of the house and called 911.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, I keep…the…I keep seeing it in my head. Is she breathing? I don’t know, I…I just ran out of the house.”
While on the call, she realized she didn’t know where the rest of her family was and asked a neighbor to look inside the house.
“One more brother.”
“What?”
“What happened in the house?”
“I don’t know what…but nothing.”
Later, she would find out that her brother Jason was shot dead in his bedroom, and her son Julian had been abducted. The mother and brother of Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson were found murdered in the family’s home. The tragedy was compounded by the growing mystery of what happened to Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew.
“Only an animal would do something like that, man. A heartless person, man. A child, innocent man. He deserved nothing like this. Julian was very intelligent, a very smart child. Somebody, anybody, whoever, just let him go.”
Sadly, gunshots are so common in the area that when they rang out Friday morning, no one bothered calling 911, giving the killer what amounted to a 7-hour head start with his little captive, Julian King. An Amber Alert for Julian King was issued. Anyone who had seen a white 1994 Chevy Suburban was urged to call the police.
“All I ask, just let my baby go, please. Seven. Let my baby—please, that’s all I ask.”
Outside the family home, neighbors shared their grief and showed Jennifer that they cared. People in the neighborhood remembered voting for Jennifer Hudson when she was on American Idol. They prayed for her and wanted something good to happen for her then. Now, they were holding out hope for the safe return of her 7-year-old loved one. In Englewood, the tragedy struck at a time when the Oscar-winning Dream Girl star was living her dream.
“Not only can I do it, but you can do it too.”
Despite her rising fame, Jennifer relied heavily on her close-knit family to stay grounded. Even as a star, Jennifer would constantly return home to be with her family. The last time she was with them was the weekend before everything happened.
My nephew Julian was sitting in the living room, engrossed in a book. It was always me and my Tug Bear—that’s what I called him. I was playing the piano, with my mother on one side and my brother on the other, singing a song. It was just us, being a family.
But on the day of the murders, even though I was far away, I sensed something was wrong.
“I was in Tampa, Florida, with my fiancé. He had invited me to visit him, so I did on my day off. I woke up around 10 or 11 in the morning and noticed that I hadn’t received a text from my mom. It was unusual; if I woke up that late and there was no message from her, something was off. I thought maybe she was just busy. I fell back asleep, and when I woke up again, my sister called my fiancé’s phone. She was so hysterical that he couldn’t understand her. I grabbed the phone from him, and that’s when she told me. She was screaming and flew in right away.”
When Jennifer arrived in Chicago on the night of the murders, the press was waiting for a comment, but she remained silent. One of the first things she did was go to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, where she had the devastating task of identifying her mother and brother’s bodies.
“It was all a blur. It felt surreal, like I was outside of myself.”
Without giving herself time to grieve, she focused entirely on finding her nephew.
“We offered a $100,000 reward for anyone who saw him, found him, or knew where he was. We tried everything to get him back. The only thing that could comfort the family was having Julian in their arms, knowing he was safe and okay. We hoped the perpetrator would be found and brought to justice.”
“You knew immediately who had done it?”
“We all did.”
“You all did?”
In a photo taken just a few months earlier, Jennifer stands next to the man she would later accuse of her family’s murder—her brother-in-law, William Balfour.
“You told the police, ‘Go get him.'”
“He had an argument with my sister, went to her job, and threatened to take Julian. Julia went home and told my mother, and my mother said, ‘Over my dead body.’ That’s exactly what happened.”
“She didn’t want me to marry him. I married him.”
“She told you not to marry him?”
“Yeah, she said, ‘I’ll fly you around the world, I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t marry him.'”
Balfour was furious after being thrown out of the family. He often went on angry tirades and was prone to violence. The police tracked him down using his phone number, finding him miles away from the crime scene at his new girlfriend’s house. When the police arrived, William Balfour tried to flee.
“We heard a loud bang. The police kicked the back door open, stormed in, and pinned me to the ground.”
For the Hudson family, grief was mixed with hope. Authorities told them that the suspect was in custody. William Balfour was being questioned by police, but Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew Julian King, who Balfour was suspected of abducting, was still missing.
“Why am I here?”
“They’re here because your mother-in-law, ex-mother-in-law, and ex-brother-in-law were found dead.”
“We’re interested in this kid. Where is he?”
“I don’t know where he is.”
“Let me put it to you this way: That little boy turns up dead somewhere, you’re going to have a problem.”
“I have a problem?”
The Amber Alert remained active, and the police investigation continued. There was still no sign of the white Chevy SUV. On October 27, they finally got the break they were hoping for. Early Monday morning, several miles away from the original crime scene, a couple walking their dog spotted an SUV parked on their block. It matched the description from the news.
“He checked the license plates, and they matched what was on TV.”
The footage you’re viewing shows a white SUV. Medical examiners are currently approaching the vehicle. It’s possible that the body of Julian King, the 7-year-old nephew, was found there this morning.
For the second time in two days, Jennifer visited the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, but this visit was to identify her nephew.
“It feels like it takes a part of you. He was such a bright little boy, so smart. I can’t even express it. How could this happen? Did this really happen?”
“You realize it’s real when you have to say the words ‘my family was murdered.’ That’s when it becomes real.”
Mourners gathered at a Chicago church for a private funeral for Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and seven-year-old nephew.
“I don’t even know who to grieve for first. Of course, I think of my mother first because she’s my mother. Then I think of Julian. My brother…it’s all in bits and pieces. It’s too much. You’re confused—your mind and feelings are all over the place. You don’t know where to start or what to say.”
The Oscar-winning actress paused to give her mother a final kiss during the service, and the family remained composed.
“I can’t imagine how she feels. It’s heartbreaking to think someone would kill a seven-year-old. What did he ever do to anyone to deserve this?”
As Jennifer retreated from the public eye, the case against her family’s killer was just beginning, and it proved to be more challenging than anticipated.
“There is no physical evidence linking William Balfour to the murders of Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King. The DNA on the murder weapon does not match Balfour’s.”
The defense claimed that investigators focused on Balfour prematurely because they needed a suspect in this high-profile case.
“We are confident that once all evidence is presented, William will be found not guilty.”
“My mom used to say, ‘Jenny, one of my favorite things about you is that no matter how negative things are, you always find a positive.’ In that moment, I wondered, ‘Am I supposed to find a positive in this?’ I was depressed for nearly two weeks, secluded in one room. I didn’t watch TV or keep up with the outside world because I had enough to deal with.”
“I remember being offered a film role around that time, but I thought, ‘I need to adjust to who I am now. I can’t play another character if I don’t know who I am.'”
As the trial approached, Jennifer was invited to perform at the Grammys. It was one of her first public appearances in two months, and it coincided with what would have been her brother’s birthday.
“It’s painful to face holidays and birthdays without them. When you lose loved ones, you dread those dates. I can’t keep doing this. I don’t handle staying still well, and I knew dwelling on it would make it harder.”
She decided to perform, knowing her family loved to see her sing. But before that, she received an unexpected and welcome surprise.
Jennifer Hudson.
“I don’t think it was about winning the Grammy itself. It was more about a moment in her life she’ll never forget. A ‘wow, I’m just in awe right now.’ I want to thank my family in heaven and those who are here today. Wow.”
But the most emotional part of the night was her performance. Despite her pain, Jennifer sang for the family she had lost.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Jennifer Hudson.”
“I could hear my brother in my head saying, ‘Jennifer, you need to nail this.’ I was out in the cold. Nothing could heal this soul. ‘You need to get up and do you.’ I knew he’d be disappointed if I didn’t do it justice.”
“You reached out with your arms, with your heart.”
“God never gives you more than you can handle. And again, this isn’t about religion, but you think, ‘Wow, He’s allowing her to handle this tonight. He’s allowing her to still have a sweet taste in her mouth after all these bitter experiences.’ Towards the end, it was hard. I mean, I’m always emotional, and I’ve had to work on that. My mama used to get irritated and say, ‘Jenny, why are you always crying when you sing? What are you crying for?'”
“I was definitely thinking about my family when I sang that song. That’s what I was thinking.”
“I can’t really put into words how special that moment was for me. It was like, if there was anything that could lift me up, that was it. So often we get lost. Music is like home, you know? It’s that base, and anytime you’re lost, anytime you’re trying to find your way, anytime you’re scared, you run home.”
Jennifer felt her family was still with her, cheering her on and giving her the strength to move forward.
“I can hear them saying to me, ‘J, knock it off.’ Like, right now, my mom would be fussing at me, ‘Why are you always crying? Stop crying.’ My brother would say, ‘J, knock it off. You gotta keep going.’ So, the only thing I can do to honor their memory is to make them proud, and that’s what keeps me going. I haven’t been to the gravesite since we buried them. I can’t come back here empty-handed.”
To ensure her family gets justice, Jennifer decided it was finally time to face their killer. In a bold move, prosecutors launched their case on Monday with their highest-profile witness—Jennifer Hudson.
“Witnesses like this, when you don’t have physical evidence such as DNA or fingerprints or gunshot residue, are super important. She’s a surviving family member who will testify about the murdered family members in this case.”
The high-profile trial attracted a media swarm. Cameras weren’t allowed in the courtroom. Although Jennifer was a primary witness for the case, her testimony, while beneficial, could backfire on the prosecution.
“We kid ourselves if we think the celebrity of someone like Jennifer Hudson won’t affect everyone in that courtroom. If the jurors feel she’s overreacting or acting, it will hurt.”
“I don’t like the idea of being boxed into anything. ‘This is who you are, and this is what you’re going to be.’ No. In my world, there’s no limit. Nobody gets to determine that for me.”
“In the summer of 2006, did you learn that your sister Julia was dating someone?”
“Yeah, I eventually learned that Julia and William were dating. Shortly after he resurfaced in the neighborhood, none of us wanted her to marry him. I would tell her repeatedly not to marry William. We didn’t like how he treated her, and I didn’t like how he treated my nephew.”
“Everything said in the trial about me making threats or anything like that was all new to me.”
“And you don’t know who did it?”
“No.”
“Or are you just not willing to say?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s nothing like that.”
“It’s very responsible.”
“I’m not letting him off the hook for anything.”
Jennifer tried to convey that this was not a crime that would go unpunished. This wasn’t another nameless, faceless crime that nobody paid attention to. She helped establish the timeline of the crime. There was a habit between her and her mother where Mom would always text her. That, along with the other witnesses in the case and the cell tower analysis, placed the defendant in that area when these horrific crimes were committed. There were many compelling pieces of circumstantial evidence, but when put together, they clearly painted a picture.
“William Balfour, guilty of murdering Hudson’s mother, brother, and seven-year-old nephew. Judge Burns said, ‘Your heart is an Arctic night, and your soul is as barren as dark space.'”
“Why was it so important for you to be there each and every day?”
“That’s very easy to answer. My mother would have been there, so I had to be there every step of the way. Both of us, there. And to honor them, that was the only thing to do, to be there. So nothing else mattered. We had to be there.”
After sending William to prison, Jennifer felt she could finally see her family again.
“Now I feel ready to go because I’ve accomplished something important. Standing above the grave, I know we’ve done it. Justice has been served. I deserve to see them now, with justice on our side. Not a day goes by that I don’t hear my mother’s voice in my head. I live by her words and try to make her proud with everything I do. Knowing she’s proud of me keeps me going. Her death is a trauma, but it doesn’t define her life.”
Jennifer Hudson couldn’t hold back her tears.
“I declare today Julian King Day in Chicago.”
For the second year in a row, the Hudson sisters handed out school supplies to needy kids at the Croc Center in West Pullman, in memory of Julian.
“I just want to make sure we remember him and heal together. It feels like a fresh start, and it’s beautiful. We’ve had our loss, but we’re finding our way and counting our blessings.”
“Do you think about your mother?”
“Actually, today is her birthday.”
“Oh, wow.”
“She used to write me letters when I was away. She’d say, ‘Of all the things you’ve done, my favorite is the person you are and your character.’ I’ve seen the highest highs and the lowest lows, but we have to keep going. The best way to honor their memories is to live the way they wanted. You’ve been blessed with life, so live it fully.”
