Jennifer Hudson and her family have released a statement after William Balfour was found guilty on all counts of murdering members of the Hudson family.

As we reported on Friday, Balfour was found guilty on three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, residential burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle and home invasion.

The Hudson family’s statement reads as follows:

“We have many people to thank but our first thank you is to God, always. We are so grateful to prosecutors James McKay, Jennifer Bagby and Veryl Gambino and State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and her team for their dedication and tireless work from the beginning.”

“We have the best police department and they have been with us every step of the way. We thank all of the State’s witnesses who came forward on our behalf.”

“We have felt the love and support from people all over the world and we’re very grateful. We want to extend a prayer from the Hudson family to the Balfour family.”

“We have all suffered terrible loss in this tragedy. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them (2 Corinthian 4:3-4). It is our prayer that the Lord will forgive Mr. Balfour of these heinous acts and bring his heart into repentance someday.”

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Jennifer Hudson

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William Balfour’s booking photo (Getty Images)

William Balfour has been found guilty on all counts in the murder of  Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew.

Jurors in Chicago reached the verdict after three days of deliberation. Balfour was found guilty on three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, residential burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle and home invasion.

The verdict carries a mandatory life sentence.

Jennifer Hudson, the first witness to testify against Balfour, bowed her head as jurors entered the courtroom this afternoon.

Witnesses in the trial ranged from crack addicts to ballistic experts to officers who found the bodies of Hudon’s mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, brother Jason Hudson, 29, and nephew, 7-year-old Julian Hudson. Balfour did not testify in his own defense.

Prosecutors charged that Balfour was upset that his estranged wife, Hudson’s sister, Julia, had begun seeing another man and wanted a divorce.

Read the full story at the Chicago Sun-Times.

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Jennifer Hudson

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As the trial in the murders of Jennifer Hudson’s family continues, the evidence is stacking up against William Balfour, Jennifer Hudson’s sister Julia’s ex-husband and the man allegedly responsible for the murders of her mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew.

Balfour has pleaded not guilty, but Balfour’s girlfriend, Shonta Cathey testified against him last week, claiming he told her that he killed the Hudsons, reports The Chicago Sun Times.

“He said, ‘They got shot,’ and I said, ‘Who?’ He said, ‘Her mother and her brother,’ and I was looking at him crazy … like bug eyed, and just staring at him,” Cathey told jurors. She went on to say, “He say he went in and the brother rushed him, and he shot him, and the mother was coming down the stairs, calling his name, and he shot her.”

While hearing the gruesome details of just how callous Balfour was in shooting her family, Jennifer Hudson appeared to shrivel in her seat in between her fiance, David Otunga and sister, Julia Hudson. When Jennifer turned towards Balfour’s mother, his mother snapped, “What the hell is she looking at?”

A man that worked for Julia Hudson, Robbin Myers claims that Balfour said a few off the wall things to him as well. In August 2008, Balfour showed up at Myers’ son’s birthday party and Myers thought he spotted a handgun in Balfour’s waistband so instead of letting him in the house, he took him to the porch to have a beer and a cigarette. That’s when Balfour got comfortable.

Balfour admitted that he wished Julia were nicer to him and then, “I think my wife is cheating on me with somebody she work with. If I find out that she cheating on me I’m f***ing her and him up,” Balfour angrily admitted and then lifted his shirt to flash the gun.

Prosecutors claim that Balfour stole a .45-caliber Sig Sauer handgun from Jason Hudson (Jennifer Hudson’s brother) and used it to massacre him and his family members, and Myers confirmed that the murder weapon was the same one that William brought to the birthday party.

More evidence that’s damning to Balfour? He was spotted in the same SUV that Jennifer Hudson’s nephew was later found in, which also belonged to his Uncle Jason, and which Balfour allegedly stole after he killed him.

During Friday’s testimony, eyewitness Bill Graham, 71, told the court how he recognized Balfour driving a white SUV on the day of the murders, and was surprised that he wasn’t in his usual green Chrysler, reported the Chicago Sun-Times. “I wondered who would let him drive a truck like that because I never seen him drive one before,” said Graham, who saw him park the SUV in a vacant lot and get out with a large bottle of Hennessey.

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VIA: TMZ

Rodney King told TMZ … he sincerely hopes Trayvon Martin‘s family will eventually get justice … but says Trayvon’s case makes him realize how lucky he was to have his beating captured on tape.

Just days before the 20 year anniversary of the L.A. riots, King was in NYC promoting his new book in which he describes his journey through the violence … from the infamous beating at the hands of LAPD officers … to his public plea for peace.

“It’s not one day that goes by that I don’t think about the incident … I get these headaches … when I [sniff], my sinuses start burning.”

Now, with the Trayvon Martin case stirring up similar emotions as his legal saga  … King says the judicial system is a “slow process” …. and adds, “I’m hoping he gets justice for his family … ’cause he’s no longer here, so for his family.”

Source: The Grio
The family of Trayvon Martin a black teenager killed by a neighborhood watch captain say the 911 tapes of the incident, released on Friday, prove George Zimmerman did not act in self-defense.

On one of the tapes, Zimmerman is heard telling dispatchers he sees a suspicious person who appears to be “up to no good” or “on drugs or something.”

“These a**holes always get away,” he adds.

Zimmerman is asked by the dispatcher if he is following the person, and when he indicates he is, the dispatcher says “we don’t need you to do that.”

LISTEN: Trayvon Martin 911 tapes uncut (Warning: Contains adult language)

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On subsequent tapes, a neighbor can be heard telling the dispatcher he sees people “wrestling on the ground” outside and that he heard gunshots. On another, a voice can be heard screaming for help as a neighbor describes the scuffling outside to the dispatcher.

The 17-year-old from Miami was returning to his father’s fiancee’s home in Sanford, Florida, from the store, carrying an ice tea and candy, when the confrontation took place. Zimmerman told police Martin was the aggressor, and that he feared for his life before he fatally shot the teen in the chest.

So far, Sanford police have declined to arrest Zimmerman, saying witness accounts corroborate his story. But Martin’s family and a growing number of observers are demanding an arrest, saying Martin was a victim of racial profiling. Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has disputed that, and earlier this week told the Miami Herald the 911 tapes would prove that race played no factor in the shooting, since when asked by the dispatcher to describe the race of the person he was following, he said he didn’t know. In fact, the tapes show he told the dispatcher the person he was pursuing “looks black.”

For the full story Click Here.

Bobby Tillman was killed last November

One of the teens involved in the vicious assault that killed 18-year-old Bobby Tillman at a Douglasville house party last November has agreed to plead guilty to murdering him, reports the AJC.com.

Emanuel Boykins, the 18-year-old who threw the first punch that started the random, fatal attack on Tillman, has agreed to plead guilty to felony murder.

The other three defendants charged with Tillman’s beating death have until 5 pm Wednesday (June 8) to decide if they will plead guilty as well. If they don’t, Douglas County will press ahead with death penalty cases against the men.

When Boykins pleads guilty to felony murder on June 29, the malice murder charge will reportedly be dropped.

Boykins and the three other defendants — 18-year-old Quantez Devonta Mallory and Tracen Lamar Franklin and Horace Damon Coleman,  both 19 — had initially proclaimed their innocence, saying in a television interview that someone else killed Tillman. The accused even sent condolences to Tillman’s family in the interview.

Read the full story here.

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G-Dep confessed to shooting 32-year-old John Henkel three times in the chest, killing him on October 19, 1993 during a botched robbery attempt.

On December 15th, G-Dep, born Trevell Coleman, went to police in Manhattan and admitted to the shooting, although he did not know Henkel had died from his gunshot wounds.

“I think he’s an idiot,” John Henkel’s step-brother Robert Henkel told The New York Post.

“He has three kids and a wife. It was years and years and years ago,” Robert said. “Finally, we’re not always thinking about it…and now it has to be dug up all again.”

Last week, a grand jury indicted the rapper for murder.

Read the whole article on AllHipHop.com!

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Sean “Diddy” Combs hit up Shade 45 this morning and was asked about his former artist, G. Dep, who recently confessed to the shooting a man 17 years ago.

Diddy was unsurprisingly diplomatic in his answers to the questions.

“You could always feel that if you knew G. Dep, and I can’t say it was that, maybe something was troubling his soul,” Diddy said. ” ‘Cause he was real quiet. He’s the type of guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly. I don’t know what happened in that instance but he did the right thing and manned up to it.”

The man G. Dep shot, John Henkel, died after Dep’s botched robbery attempt. G. Dep is now facing murder charges.

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More than a half a dozen police cars surrounded the Memphis home of Lorenzen Wright’s ex-wife’s, Sherra Wright, now a suspect in his murder. On Sunday, August 1, 2010, detectives searched inside and out for clues into the murder of Wright’s ex-husband, a former Atlanta Hawk, Memphis Tiger and Memphis Grizzlies.

Wright split his time between Atlanta and Memphis.

The bullet-riddled body of the NBA free agent was found in a field in Southeast Memphis on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. His mother reported Wright missing on July 22nd, saying she suspected foul play. Sherra Wright was the last person to see him alive, telling the authorites she saw him leave her house in Collierville on July 18th.

In another twist to the story, Wright’s attorney says Sherra Wright was threatened at her home by three men who were carrying guns and looking for the former NBA player about six weeks before he was murdered.

Click here to read more from myeyewitnessnews.com.

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]]> http://majicatl.com/299201/wrights-wife-suspect-in-murder-police-surround-her-house/feed/ 1 Wright’s Wife Suspect In Murder: Police Surround Her House (thumbnail) ronemajicatl Lorenzen Wright Hawks http://majicatl.com/265451/16-year-old-twin-sisters-charged-with-killing-their-mother-friends-not-surprised/ http://majicatl.com/265451/16-year-old-twin-sisters-charged-with-killing-their-mother-friends-not-surprised/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 22:37:49 +0000 majicatl Staff http://majicatl.com/?p=265451 ]]>

From the AJC.com:

Just days after Jarmecca “Nikki” Whitehead was killed, many of her friends had already fingered a suspect, or suspects.

Their suspicions were confirmed Friday when the Conyers beautician’s twin daughters, Tasmiyah and Jasmiyah, were arrested and charged with murder in their mother’s Jan. 14 death. Whitehead was found in a pool of blood, beaten and stabbed repeatedly. The twins will be tried as adults.

“I never thought they were capable of murder before she died,” said Whitehead’s friend and former boss, Michelle Temple. “Who would think that? But after she was murdered, I knew it was them.”

By all accounts, the 16-year-old girls had become difficult for their mother to handle. Once honor students and Girl Scouts, “Tas” and “Jas,” as they were known, continually pushed boundaries, breaking rules and acting out whenever discipline was imposed.

“The girls wanted to do what they wanted to do,” said Yucca Harris, Whitehead’s best friend.

Tas and Jas had moved back home just eight days before their mother’s death. They had been living with their elderly great-grandmother for about a year and a half following an incident in which they physically assaulted Whitehead, requiring police intervention, said Petrina Sims, owner of Simply Unique, a salon where Whitehead worked until her death.

Their great-grandmother had trouble reining the girls in, Whitehead’s friends say.

“She’s an 80-year-old woman,” Harris said of Whitehead’s grandmother. “[Tas and Jas] could get away with just about anything.”

Temple told the AJC that the girls stole $200 from her and they’d also stolen money from their great-grandmother.

“The [great-grandmother] eventually had to get a dead-bolt for her bedroom,” Temple  said.

But friends say Whitehead, who raised the girls alone, was determined to start over with her daughters.

“They agreed to start over, to forgive and forget,” Harris told the AJC.  Harris said she had a long conversation with her friend’s daughters that night, encouraging them to call her whenever they needed to talk.

“I thought I got through to them,” Harris said.

Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson said evidence processed in the GBI crime lab links the girls to their mother’s slaying. E ven Jasmiyah’s attorney, Rockdale public defender Owen Humphries, acknowledged, “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

Both girls have denied killing their mother, Humphries said. A grand jury is expected to hear their case June 7.

The twins had claimed they came home from school and discovered their mother’s body. One of them flagged down a Rockdale County Sheriff’s deputy who was in the neighborhood serving a warrant on an unrelated matter.

With no sign of forced entry, police suspected Whitehead knew her killer.

“There was a point soon after the murder when a lot of people became suspicious of the two girls,” Chief Wilson told the AJC.

Read the full story here.

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