UPDATE 10/28/08: WILLIAM BALFOUR SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN IN JAIL. READ WHY HERE.
UPDATE: Jennifer Hudson has identified the child’s body found in the white SUV as that of her nephew, Julian King. Law enforcement sources said that the boy was shot multiple times in the back of the vehicle. Police are testing the clothing of William Balfour for gunshot residue. He had been separated from Julia Hudson for about 2 years, and the alibi he gave police was that he was with his girlfriend during the time of the murders. She said NO HE WASN’T. Police descended on her house where Balfour was arrested, and searched it thoroughly. Now police are checking all surveillance cameras in the area to try and place Balfour and the SUV together. Rest in peace Julian, Darnell and Jason.
Chicago Breaking News says:
The boy’s aunt, actress-singer Jennifer Hudson and three other relatives went to the office and identified the body, authorities said. Chicago police brought Julian’s body to the medical examiner’s office about 12:15 p.m., said office spokesman Sean Howard. Hudson and relatives arrived about three hours later. When the group entered a viewing room at the office Hudson held her head down, as if praying, Howard said.
The family identified Julian via a video screen mounted on a wall that showed his face, according to Howard. With Hudson were two other aunts of Julian’s, an uncle, three other family members, two detectives, Howard and a medical examiner, the spokesman said.
When they saw the boy’s face on the screen, Hudson told investigators, “Yes, that is him,” Howard said.
As Snark Food reported earlier, the white SUV that Chicago police had been searching for all weekend, was found this morning on Chicago’s West Side. Inside was the body of a child, believed to be Jennifer Hudson’s nephew Julian King. Chicago police Cmdr. Wayne Gulliford said the SUV is the one wanted in an Amber Alert issued for the Oscar-winning actress’ nephew, Julian King, 7. King has been missing since Friday. That Amber Alert has just been canceled. Hudson family members were expected at the medical examiner’s office this afternoon to identify the body.
Video of the SUV being taken to headquarters here:
Julian had been missing since the horrific double homicide of Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother on Friday. A neighbor who lives a block away from where the SUV was discovered parked at 1313 S. Kolin, says he remembers seeing the car Saturday. During the police press conference, the man came forward and claimed he called cops that same day but no one responded.
Meanwhile, two other neighbors told a Chicago reporter they are sure the SUV was NOT there on Saturday. If true, it may mean someone other than the suspect, William Balfour, drove it there with the body inside. Balfour was arrested Friday night.
Some neighbors of Jennifer Hudson’s family said they saw two men enter the house Friday morning before gunshots were heard. Julia Hudson, Jennifer’s sister, found the bodies of her mother and brother around 2:45pm Friday, when she came home from work. Julian was gone. Police began an intensive search for Julian AND William Balfour, and put out an Amber Alert for the boy and the white Suburban.
Investigators have closed off the area where the vehicle was found. It is not clear how long the vehicle was parked on the street. Early Monday morning, police sources say that they searched a home in the 1900-block of South Spaulding, which is about six or seven blocks from where William Balfour, 27, a person of interest in the murders, was arrested.
The SUV was reportedly found by a 75-year-old who lives on the block named John Louden. He said he has lived on the block for 18 years and worried about people selling drugs in the abandoned building behind it. He saw the SUV while walking his dog. After a second look, he realized the license plate matched the one police were looking for.
“I didn’t look in there. I didn’t touch it. I knew it was a strange vehicle,” Louden said. He said police showed up in about five minutes after his wife called them. They discovered the child inside. The body was removed and the SUV was towed away for evidence processing. “I feel bad about that baby,” Louden said.
An autopsy is currently being done on the young child. The Medical Examiner is trying to identify the child that was found. Sadly, it is almost certainly Julian. Hudson’s family members and supporters assumed this was the third member of her family killed since Friday. The FBI is now saying that it is “believed to be” young Julian King, age 7.
“It’s shocking. It’s unreal. We had been praying that it would not come to this,” said Rev. Krista Alston, a cousin of Hudson and a minister at the Pleasant Gift Baptist Church in Chicago. “We know it’s a reality now, but it’s still shocking.”
Our prayers go out for the Hudson family. Updates here as they become available.
