Oct 27, 2008 10:41 pm US/Central
Body Of Hudson's Nephew Found On West Side
7-Year-Old Had Been Missing From Home Where Jennifer Hudson's Mother, Brother Were Found Murdered
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Julian King was reported missing after his uncle, Jason Hudson, and grandmother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, were found dead in a South Side home. His body was found in an SUV the morning of Oct. 27.
Courtesy: Chicago Police Department
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Police examine the sport-utility vehicle in which a boy's body was found Monday morning. Authorities later identified the boy as 7-year-old Julian King.
CBS
Chicago police confirmed Monday that the body of a young boy found inside a white sport-utility vehicle on the city's West Side is the nephew of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson. The child had been shot in the the head, authorities said.
Hudson's nephew, Julian King, 7, had been missing from the South Side home where the bodies of Hudson's mother and brother were found murdered on Friday. An Amber Alert for Julian was canceled late Monday morning.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports that Chicago Police went back inside the Hudson family home Monday night and came out with two large bags of presumably evidence. They also searched the upper floors with flashlights. At the same time, Police Supt. Jody Weis says investigators will look to street surveillance cameras in hopes of finding more clues about these murders.
The discovery is the latest in a series of tragedies to befall Hudson and her family over the past four days. Jennifer Hudson and other members of the family were at the medical examiner's office Monday afternoon and identified the body.
The SUV was found at 1313 S. Kolin Ave. in the Lawndale neighborhood, police said. The body of an African-American boy who looked to be about 7 was found in the back seat, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Police discovered the SUV just after 7 a.m. Monday morning. Responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle, police looked inside the vehicle and found a body.
Lynette Louden said she first noticed the SUV parked on the street Saturday morning and saw it was still there Sunday.
The family first suspected it could be the vehicle police were looking for when John Louden was walking his dog. He said the dog, Little Man, howled at the SUV, which was unusual, and convinced him to take a closer look at it. The owners checked the license plates, made the connection and called 911.
"I heard the policeman when he opened up the door, he looked in there and he said, 'we found the body,' and I just start hollering, 'Oh, Jesus, no, not the baby. Not the baby,'" Lynette Louden said.
Chicago Police later confirmed the boy inside was 7-year-old Julian King - actress Jennifer Hudson's nephew. Hudson and several relatives identified his body Monday afternoon, ending any hopes he'd be found alive.
"They held hands and obviously it was a sign of strength to which Ms. Hudson displayed that carried out throughout that room. She was very strong," said Sean Howard, Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
King had been missing since Friday afternoon when his mother discovered the bodies of her mother and her brother inside the family's Englewood home. Police took the boy's stepfather William Balfour into custody Friday night. But many living on the 1300 block of south Kolin where the SUV was found say they noticed it Saturday.
"I know it was out there Saturday for sure because I was taking the groceries up," said Lawndale resident Ty Howard.
But not necessarily on Friday.
"It got there sometime early Saturday morning, but Friday it was not there," Lynette Louden said.
Police Supt. Jody Weis said the investigation will continue around the clock until suspects are arrested. "We have a lot of video surveillance to review, a lot of witnesses to question,'' he said. Weis also thanked the Hudson family for their cooperation in the investigation.
"I'm very confident that our forensic technicians will go through both areas with a fine-toothed comb, and I suspect that we'll have some evidence that will link us to the killer," Weis said.
Police put the SUV on a flatbed tow truck and towed it from the scene in the morning. They confirmed the license plate matched the one they had issued for an Amber Alert. It was a white 1994 Chevrolet Suburban SUV with Illinois license plate X584859.
Julian King was a student at Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy at 4420 S. Sacramento.
"This is an unspeakable tragedy,'' said Chicago Public Schools spokesman, Michael Vaughn said. He said counselors were in school today to help students and staff cope with what happened.
About 3 p.m. Friday, the bodies of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and her brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered inside their home. Jason Hudson was the owner of the SUV.
The shooting is believed to be domestic-related. Neighbors said they heard gunshots between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday morning, authorities said.
A family member found the bodies. Donerson was found on the living room floor; Jason Hudson was found in a bedroom. The crime didn't appear to be a robbery, police said, and the door to the home was not locked when the family member arrived.
People in the Lawndale neighborhood said they knew of the high-profile murder case, but never checked out the mysterious SUV.
"It just goes to show you, we don't pay attention to our own community," said Lawndale resident Rasheem Jackson. "For it to happen on the South Side and end on the West Side is just a terrible ordeal, and I just think about the child."
William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia, has been in police custody since Friday. He was transferred Sunday to the Illinois Department of Corrections "based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation."
Supt. Weis called Balfour a "person of interest," but he has not ruled out the possibility that other people may have been involved.
The Oscar-winning actress had offered a $100,000 reward for Julian's safe return.
The Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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