Devastating news out of Chicago; Jennifer Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donnerson, and brother, Jason, were found murdered earlier today.

Their bodies were discovered around 2:45pm at the home of Donnerson by a cousin who lives nearby.

They had both been shot to death and were not alive when help arrived.

UPDATE:

A 7-year-old boy is missing as well, and an Amber Alert has been issued in this case. Police think they know who the suspect is and are asking for the public’s help in finding the man in question.

From ChicagoBreakingNews.com:

A Chicago police spokeswoman also said a 7-year-old boy was reported missing. Police identified him as Julian King (right), but they would not say whether he is a relative of the actress. He is 5-foot tall, weighs 135 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. An Amber Alert has been issued for the missing boy.

The police said that they are searching for a William Balfour as a suspect in the double homicide. They said he is considered to be armed and dangerous, and may be driving a white 1994 Chevrolet Suburban with Illinois license plate No. X584859 or a teal/green Chrysler Concord four-door with a left front headlight hanging out that is scratched all along its left side. The Chrysler is displaying temporary tags of 332K823.

Hopefully they will find the child alive and well. How tragic this whole story is.

Update 2:

Here is a photo of the suspect. And the boy who is missing has been identified as Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew.

From TMZ:

Police are looking for looking for William Balfour (bottom left), who they claim could be with the missing 7-year-old. According to records, Balfour listed Hudson’s mother’s address as a place of residence within the last year. According to the Illinois Department of Corrections website, Balfour is currently on parole after serving jail time for attempted murder.

It’s also been reported that Jennifer was not in Chicago at the time, but Los Angeles, as she was to begin shooting a music video on Monday.

UPDATE 3:

It has been confirmed that the two victims were indeed Jennifer’s mother, Darnell Donnerson, 57, and Hudson’s brother, Jason Hudson, 29. At least one of the victims has defensive wounds.

TMZ is reporting that the mother of 7-year-old Julian is also missing. However, ChicagoBreakingNews.com has not reported this. The only thing they have mentioned about the mother is that she reported her son missing sometime today. From TMZ:

Jennifer’s sister, Julia, mother of the missing 7-year-old, is reportedly also missing. She is a bus driver in Chicago and did work her shift today, however, she has not been seen since.

A WBBM reporter is saying that neighbors have said a family member in the Hudson household apparently tried to steal a car a few weeks ago, an argument ensued, and he vowed revenge. A photo on Julia’s MySpace page (bottom) posted prior to today’s events alludes to some kind of dispute with William over a car.

UPDATE 4 (Saturday):

The car in question was owned by Hudson’s family and was recently stolen by the suspect and sold without their consent. When confronted, an argument ensued, with the suspect vowing to kill the entire family. Julia told police she did not report it because she did not take the threat seriously.

Still, no word on Julia being missing, so TMZ must have been wrong about that one. However, 7-year-old Julian is still missing.

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Keep Jennifer in your thoughts today, and pray for Julian.

This poor girl has been through the highest highs and the lowest lows that any of us can even imagine. I hope she has a good support system to help her through this awful time.