ACTRESS AND SINGER Jennifer Hudson has taken to the stand during the trial of the man accused of killing three members of her family.
In court, Oscar-winner Hudson said her family didn’t want her sister to marry the man now accused of killing her mother Darnell Donerson, brother Jason Hudson and 7-year-old nephew Julian King.
Hudson’s voice broke as she testified on the stand about how she reacted when her sister told her she was going to marry 30-year-old William Balfour, pictured below.
Prosecutors say he killed the Oscar winner’s family after becoming enraged that Hudson’s sister Julia, his estranged wife, had begun dating someone else.
Hudson struggled to hold back tears as she told jurors, “None of us wanted her to marry him.” She added: “We did not like how he treated her.”
Balfour has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the October 2008 slayings.
Hudson previously has declined to talk publicly about the killings.
USA Today reports that the singer’s fiancé, David Otunga, was present in court today. It added that lead prosecutor James McKay said that the day before the killings, Balfour told Julia Hudson: “If you ever leave me, I’m going to kill you, but I’m going to kill your family first.”
However the defence team says there is only circumstancial evidence linking Balfour to the murders.
- Additional reporting AP
