Jennifer Hudson Family’s Murder Trial Date Set

Chicago, Illinois- Although much of the news surrounding American Idol star turned Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson has been positive in recent years, the singer suffered a nearly incomprehensible loss just a few short years ago.

Hudson lost much of her immediate family in an extremely tragic incident at the family home in Chicago in October of 2008. Her mother, 57-year-old Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, and brother, 29-year-old Jason Hudson were found murdered in the house. Missing from the scene was Hudson’s seven-year-old nephew Julian King, and a stressful weekend of searching for the little boy- the son of Hudson’s sister Julia- ensued after the discovery of the bodies on a Friday.

That Monday, however, the boy’s body- he had been shot to death- was located in an SUV in the city, and Hudson identified him as little Julian. Authorities soon arrested the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister- 27-year-old William “Flex” Balfour- and charged him with the murders. Late last year, Hudson revealed in an interview with Ebony magazine that if not for a last-minute invitation from now-husband David Otunga, she too would have been at her mother’s house at the time of the murders. Hudson explained the near-miss:

“That’s one of the things that saved my life, because I could have been home with my mom then.He wanted me to come out to Florida with him instead of going to Chicago… I flew out to see him; that’s why I’m still here. I’ve never said that before, and I can’t believe I just said that now. But I didn’t know. He was just like, ‘I’m going to this wrestling thing, and it’s in Tampa. I’m going out there now, so you can come out there and see me versus going home.’”

The surviving members of Jennifer Hudson’s family can finally expect a chance at justice in 2012, as Balfour is set to stand what is expected to be a three to four month long trial on April 23rd. Balfour has pled not guilty on three counts of three counts of murder, aggravated kidnapping and home invasion.