Violation may snag suspect in Hudson case
ENGLEWOOD MURDERS | Officials look into whether he met parole requirements
October 29, 2008
BY ANNIE SWEENEY, FRANK MAIN AND RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporters
Did the suspect in the killings of actress Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew fail to meet his anger-management requirements stemming from a decade-old felony conviction?
A Nov. 10 hearing at Stateville prison will decide if there's probable cause to violate William Balfour's parole for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction. He's not charged in the killings, but police have named him as a suspect. He'll remain in prison until his parole hearing.
Balfour served almost seven years in prison for the 1999 conviction. His parole lasts until May.
"He's got some substantive alleged violations, including did he abide by terms of substance-abuse counseling and did he abide by anger-manager counseling,'' said Jose Montes, chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Also, Balfour missed a meeting with his parole agent Friday -- the day Hudson's mother and brother were slain and her nephew went missing. The nephew, Julian King, 7, was found dead in a van Monday. On the phone, Balfour told the agent he was "baby-sitting on the West Side," according to documents obtained by the Sun-Times.
On June 19, police arrested Balfour for possession of 1 gram of cocaine in the 7000 block of South Princeton, but state officials decided not to terminate his parole. A judge dismissed the drug case July 16 and Balfour received a verbal reprimand from his parole officer July 25, records show.
"A mere arrest in and of itself is not necessarily a violation of parole," Montes said.
On Tuesday, an autopsy revealed Hudson's nephew died from multiple gunshot wounds. He was found Monday on the West Side in the back of a white SUV nearly three days after the discovery of the slayings of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson, in the family's home in the 7000 block of South Yale.
That same day, authorities issued an alert saying Julian was missing and could be with Balfour, who is married to the boy's mother, Julia Hudson.
Julia Hudson and Balfour are estranged. Julia Hudson is Jennifer Hudson's sister.
Balfour and Julia Hudson are believed to have had ongoing domestic issues.
Authorities believe Julian, who was shot in the head, was killed in the back of the SUV after being taken out of the house.
Julia Hudson updated her MySpace page Tuesday with this message: "Because I chose to do what was natural to me and love someone, it cost me my beautiful loving supporting mother Darnell, my true baby brother Jason
and last but never not least my only son Julian, my innocent baby one that was sheltered from all the evil in the world because we loved him so much.
"His 'lil soul is at ease. I take comfort knowing that Julian is with my mother and my brother and most of all the lord and now he's my angel protecting me."
Contributing: Kara Spak
http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1247429,CST-NWS-hudson29.article