Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson on Monday for the murders of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew, taking him from a prison where he'd been held since just after the shooting deaths.

William Balfour was arrested at Stateville Correctional Center in the deaths of Darnell Hudson Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King, said Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Balfour, 27, was released to detectives after they served the warrant around 2:45 p.m. and he awaited formal charges, Bond said. Balfour had not been charged by late Monday afternoon, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.

CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports that William's mother, Michelle Balfour, of Chicago, has denied that her son had anything to do with the deaths. She says she thought her son could be released from the Statesville Correctional Center at a parole hearing on Wednesday. But instead, Chicago Police served an arrest warrant for him Monday afternoon.

"Under no circumstances did my son do this," said suspect's mother Michelle Balfour. "They brought him from Stateville two days before it was time for him to be released. Shonta Cathey has a pending drug case with the Chicago Police Department. She made a deal with the state's attorney in order to have my son brought back up here to be convicted on a gun charge or this murder."

His mom and attorney have been told he'll face three murder charges.

"If they found gunpowder on his hands, you've got a case," Michelle Balfour said. "If they found a gun on him, you have a case. If they found a fingerprint on the truck that he did this, you've got a case. But they don't have nothing."

Until Monday, police only identified Balfour as a "person of interest" in the investigation.

The bodies of Donerson and Jason Hudson were discovered Oct. 24 at the family's home. Julian's body was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the city's West Side. All three had been shot.

Police took Balfour into custody the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours -- the longest Chicago police can hold a person without charges -- Balfour was taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation.

Balfour, who is the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's older sister, Julia Hudson, and Julian's stepfather, served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

Balfour had refused to take a lie-detector test and stopped cooperating with detectives in the case, a police official, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, has said.

Police have confirmed that they found the gun used in the killings. The .45-caliber gun was discovered Oct. 29 in a vacant lot in the West Side neighborhood where the King's body was found a few days earlier inside the SUV.

Bond declined to discuss any evidence Monday. But after a hearing at Stateville, the chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board said Balfour's girlfriend told police she'd seen him with a silver gun - similar to the one used in the murders.

At the time, Chairman Jorge Montes said the evidence was key to a decision finding probable cause that Balfour violated his parole and should remain locked up pending a Dec. 3 hearing before a review board panel.

Balfour's mom says that witness may have made those statements to get back at Balfour.

"A bitter hateful #%$&. He was going back to his wife," Michelle Balfour said.

Balfour did not have an attorney at the November hearing, and the Cook County Public Defender's office said at the time nobody from the office had been assigned because he was not formally charged with a crime.

Balfour's attorney calls the evidence he's seen so far, weak.

"It seems as though they're relying on statements from other persons and it seems to me that these statements are largely unreliable, unsubstantiated and inconsistent in some instances," said Balfour's attorney Joshua Kutnick.

"It's no describing how you feel knowing that your son might get the death penalty. It's no words," Michelle Balfour said.

William Balfour is in custody. His attorney says he is awaiting a court appearance that will happen in the next couple of days.

CBS 2's Pamela Jones and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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