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www.domesticviolencesupportgroup.connectplatform.com CBS/AP) The mother and brother of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were found murdered yesterday in their Chicago home. A suspect is in custody and a nationwide Amber Alert has been issued for Hudson's 7-year-old nephew.
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that Hudson returned to Chicago last night after news of the deaths.
Hudson has always laid her success at the feet of her mom and her adoring family, a down-to-Earth group who refused to move out of their longtime home in the South Side of Chicago. When neighbors heard gunshots yesterday morning, no one reported them.
A family member entering the house Friday afternoon found the body of Hudson's mother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, shot on the living room floor. Responding officers later found her 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson shot in the bedroom, police said.
At least one of the victims suffered defensive wounds, said authorities who described the shooting as domestic violence.
"It really saddens me because they were actually good people," said neighbor Vanessa Stanton.
William Balfour, a man suspected in the deaths, was arrested Friday but had not been charged, law enforcement sources told the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.
Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said investigators were talking to "a number of people in custody" but she declined to elaborate.
Paul Ciliano, a former Chicago police officer and CBS News consultant, said the Englewood neighborhood where the crimes were committed is "probably the toughest neighborhood in the city of Chicago.
"This is notoriously violent area, the most shootings and car hijackings and tough-and-rumble place on the South Side of Chicago," he told Early Show anchor Priya David.
Ciliano said the first priority of the police right now is locating the missing boy. "That's their focus. They have the suspect, the number one suspect (and only suspect as far as I know) in custody, so right now all their efforts are going towards finding and locating this child and getting him home safely."
He said police are likely questioning Balfour's acquaintances. "I'm sure they have gotten his cell phone and know everybody he has talked to or texted the last 28 to 48 hours."
Records from the Illinois Department of Corrections show Balfour, 27, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle. Public records show one of Balfour's addresses as the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were shot.
Police say Balfour took Donerson's 7-year-old grandson Julian King with him when he fled.
Balfour's mother, Michelle, said her son had been married to Hudson's sister, Julia, for several years, but they were separated. She also said Donerson had ordered him to move out of the family's home last winter.
The Cook County medical examiner's office said autopsies for Donerson and Jason Hudson were pending.
The boy, who may have witnessed the murders, has not been found.
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Saturday, October 25th 2008 at 10:38AM
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