Fan Forum - View Single Post - Female Celebrity News Thread

**vc318** · 10-24-2008, 04:57 PM

This is Lara here: Leah and I have decided to have a news thread where everyone from the board can come and post news. We will edit major news in the title thread.

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Hey guys. I thought I should post this news here:

Chicago news - 10/24/08 - Chicago News - abc7chicago.com

Actress Hudson's mother, brother dead; boy missing

Authorities search for Hudson's nephew

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The mother and brother of singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were found shot to death inside a home Friday.

Police have confirmed Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, is one of the deceased. The other victim has been identified as Jennifer Hudson's brother, Jason S. Hudson, 29.

The home where the bodies were discovered aruond 3 p.m. Friday is at 7019 S. Yale in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Property records indicate the home belongs to Donerson.

A search is underway for a young boy who is missing from the home. A child, possibly Jennifer Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, has been missing since Friday morning, according to Area 2 Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.

Patterson said neighbors reported hearing shot between 8 and 9 a.m.

State police have issued an amber alert for the child. He may be with William Balfour, who police are looking for. Relatives said Balfour is the husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia.

Police are searching for an SUV that was seen in the area - a 1994 white Suburban, Illinois license plate number X584859.

He could also be driving a teal or green Chrysler Concorde, four-door with temporary tags 332K823.

Balfour is believed to have lived in the house where the bodies were found.

King may be wearing a tan polo shirt with the number 5 on it and khaki pants.

Patterson said a family member found the body of Donerson in the living room Friday afternoon and left the hose to call police. When authorities arrived, they found Jason Hudson in a bedroom.

Patterson said there was no sign of forced entry.

Jennifer Hudson is a member of Progressive Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side. Despite her daughter's celebrity, Donerson chose to stay and live on the South Side, a decision that did not go unnoticed by the church community.

"That says a lot about the fact of the kind of family Jennifer comes from," said Rev. Willie Davis, Progressive Baptist Church. "They're a family of faith. They want to be attached to their roots. And that's just the sign of the nature of their relationship with God."

The church is where Jennifer Hudson's mom sat in a front row pew and watched as her daughter sang to an absolutely packed house just one week before Jennifer Hudson would accept an Academy Award in Hollywood.

"I'm so grateful to have my mother here celebrating with me, my boyfriend, my sisters and brothers back home. I got two of them here. Thank you all for being here and supporting me," Jennifer Hudson said in her acceptance speech.

Church leaders say they have been told that Jennifer Hudson is flying home to Chicago from Tampa.

"I'm waiting now to hear from Jennifer, and I understand she's making her way back into the city. And I have already made a call to make sure that once she arrives, that I can be made available to be there for her and her family," Davis said.

Jennifer Hudson's cousin is the music director at Progressive Baptist Church. He was getting ready for the regular Friday children's choir rehearsal when he got a phone call alerting him to what happened just a couple of miles away.

Jennifer Hudson attended Dunbar High School. Her dad died many years ago, and her mother, brother and sister still lived in Englewood.

This really blew me away. Poor Jennifer. She must be in total disbelief right now.