JULIA HUDSON BEGS FOR HER SON’S RELEASE: “I don’t care who you are, just let the baby go,” Julia Hudson said to a crowd from the podium of the Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church with the boy’s father, Greg King, at her side. “I know he’s out there,” she pleaded. “Just let him go. Put him on the side of the street. He’ll sit there. Somebody will see him. He’ll probably cry until somebody comes along.”
The FBI has been called in to help find Julian King, actress and singer Jennifer Hudson’s nephew. Julian has been missing since yesterday, when his mother, Jennifer’s sister Julia Hudson, reportedly found her mother and brother shot dead at their home in Chicago. FBI spokesman Ross Rice confirmed the FBI has been asked to help and said that their involvement doesn’t necessarily mean the boy was taken out of state. He said the FBI can get involved in the disappearance of any missing child, whether kidnapped or a runaway, and said the goal is to help police find the child as quickly as possible.
Police believe the murders happened about 11 a.m. and started outside with the gunman firing through the door and striking Hudson’s brother, according to a law-enforcement source. The gunman then entered the house and continued to fire, striking Hudson’s mother when she entered the room. Police have recovered shell casings from the scene. Jennifer Hudson visited the Cook County Medical examiner’s office overnight with other family members to identify the bodies of her mother and brother, according to the office.
Jennifer Hudson’s family members just held a press conference, where Julia Hudson made a plea for her son to be returned. She said “she just wants her baby” and that Julian “likes to read books.” Julia was the one who had to break the news to Jennifer, who started crying and screaming at the news. Reportedly, Jennifer was not at the press conference. Police Police are “looking everywhere” for the boy, including returning to the scene of the murders, police spokesperson Monique Bond said. Community leaders called for a hundred volunteers to meet in front of the Hudson family house at 3 p.m. today to search for the missing boy.
“We want a posse of men and women and religious leaders to help find that child before sundown,” said Ziff Sistrunk, an Englewood community activist. “We need to find this kid.”
The police are still looking for a white Chevrolet Suburban, license plate number X584859, in connection with the crime. They have reportedly located the teal car they included in the original alert yesterday. Police declined to say where that vehicle was located. Julia Hudson’s estranged husband, William Balfour, is under arrest and has been named a person of interest in the double-homicide. His mother says he did not do it.
FBI and police are combing the home for forensic evidence. A makeshift memorial is quickly growing outside of the South Side Chicago home. Balloons, teddy bears, notes, flowers and ribbons are being left by friends, neighbors, and even strangers. The shocking double-homicide has left the community shaken. We will update this post as more details become available.