The Court of Public Opinion: Hudson Murders and the Death Penalty
By now, you have heard about the triple murders in Chicago that resulted in the death of actress and singer Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother, and seven year old nephew.
The boy’s stepfather, William Balfour, remains the primary suspect in the murders, police sources say. He is the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, who lived in the home with her brother Jason, 29, and mother, Darnell Donerson, 57. Julia Hudson is Julian’s mother and the sister of Jennifer Hudson.
Balfour was taken into custody at a girlfriend’s home hours after the bodies were found. Sources say the girlfriend contradicted his alibi. Police say they’ve also caught him in at least one other lie. Police were able to track his whereabouts Friday through cell phone records, sources said.
A neighbor on the block where Balfour was arrested remembers seeing a man he believes to be Balfour drive up in a white SUV and park on the block around noon — at least three hours after the slaying.
The resident said the driver first reached into the glove compartment, and then got out of the car carrying what appeared to be a bottle of liquor. He saw the man walk into the home where Balfour was arrested later in the day.
The driver was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and was looking over his shoulder as he walked down the block. The driver spent about 10 minutes inside the house. “He was acting suspicious.. . He (the boy) had to be in the car. I figure he had to be. I wished I had known.”
The Suburban pulled up on the block hours before the bodies were discovered, said the man, who has lived on the block 30 years.
Residents of the house where Balfour was arrested said officers rushed the house Friday evening, and Balfour was arrested in the backyard.
Balfour and Julia Hudson had been at the Yale home much earlier Friday and may have argued, police have been told. A family friend said Balfour had made threats against the family and Julian. Balfour’s mother has denied Balfour was at the home that day.
Balfour is being held for violating his parole on a 1999 conviction for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking, authorities said. He served nearly seven years in prison.
Balfour, 27, is considered a parole violator for being named a person of interest in the murders, said Januari Smith of the Illinois Department of Corrections. Parole for Balfour — whose friends call him “Flex” — was to end in May 2009.
Illinois and the Death Penalty
Since 1608, there have been a total of 348 executions in Illinois, with 12 of them being after 1976, and 5 of those being Black.
In Illinois, to be eligible for the death penalty you must commit First-degree murder with 1 of 21 aggravating circumstances:
- Committed the offense while on probation or parole
- The murder was committed for pecuniary gain or pursuant to an agreement that the defendant would receive something of value
- The defendant caused or directed another to commit murder, or the defendant procured the commission of the offense by payment, promise of payment, or anything of pecuniary value
- The defendant has been convicted of, or committed, a prior murder, a felony involving violence, or other serious felony
- The capital offense was committed by a person who is incarcerated, has escaped, is on probation, is in jail, or is under a sentence of imprisonment
- The defendant was a drug dealer or has prior convictions involving the distribution of a controlled substance
- The murdered individual was under 12 years of age and the death resulted from exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty
- The victim was a government employee, including peace officers, police officers, federal agents, firefighters, judges, jurors, defense attorneys, and prosecutors, in the course of his or her duties
- The victim was a correctional officer.
- The murder was committed against a witness in a criminal or civil proceeding to prevent the witness from appearing
- The murder was committed as a result of the intentional discharge of a firearm by the defendant from a motor vehicle and the victim was not present within the motor vehicle
- The defendant committed treason
- The defendant knowingly or purposely and without lawful authority restrained another person by either secreting or holding in a place of isolation or by using or threatening to use physical force
- The murdered individual was known by the defendant to be a teacher or other person employed in any school and the teacher or other employee was on the grounds of the school, or building, or adjacent surroundings
- The murder was committed by the defendant in connection with or as a result of the offense of terrorism
- The murdered individual was subject to an order of protection and the murder was committed by a person against whom the same order of protection was issued under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986
- The murder was committed by reason of any person’s activity as a community-policing volunteer or to prevent any person from engaging in activity as a community policing volunteer
The Candidates on the Death Penalty
In a week, we will elect the next President of the United States of America.
Sen. John McCain supports the death penalty for federal crimes. He has voted to prohibit the use of racial statistics in death penalty appeals and to ban the death penalty for minors. He also supported legislation to allow the death penalty for fatal acts of terrorism abroad and has said he would consider further expansion of capital punishment for other crimes. McCain disagreed with the June 25, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of child rapists.
Sen. Barack Obama has written that he thinks the death penalty “does little to deter crime.” He supports capital punishment in cases in which “the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage.” While a state senator, Obama pushed for reform of the Illinois capital punishment system and authored a bill to mandate the videotaping of interrogations and confessions. Obama disagreed with the June 25, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of child rapists.
The Court of Public Opinion
I am curious to know, should William Balfour be charged with the murders, would you support the death penalty in this case? Why or why not? Also, do you agree or disagree with the presidential candidates position on the death penalty?
The Court of Public Opinion Is Now Open
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Murder is murder regardless of who commits it. It is indicative of a lack of respect for human life. The death penalty doesn’t deter crime. It just appeals to one of the more base qualities in human beings….REVENGE! Further, if the US were an all white country, you can bet it would have been outlawed long ago. It is generally used against Black and Brown people who kill White people. A few years back, statistics showed that Black people who killed White people invariably received the death penalty. Not the other way around. Further, few Black people who killed other Black people received the death penalty. It is basically a penalty that is used for revenge against “the other” which if you haven’t figured it out is you and yours.
Please don’t take this as an excuse for criminal behavior. It isn’t. People, sociopaths, who choose to cross the line and go so far as to take another’s life, should be imprisoned and the key, thrown away. No getting out, regardless of rehab. They should remain in prison to the end of their natural lives.
Even more important, the United States should at least attempt to initiate a system that gives every citizen and opportunity to develop to his or her fullest potential. Get rid of poverty, ignorance, lack of opportunity and you will get rid of much of what causes would be ordinary people to commit such heineous offenses. Further, in a culture that values human life and teaches sure mores to all its members, there is far less acceptance of such action and thus far less commission of acts that endanger life.
It’s time for the United States to join every other developed country and rid itself of this barbaric practice left over from the Middle Ages. Again, hopefully we can appeal to our high nature and let go of the political and cultural expedient.
Hello there,
It is reported that Julian’s mother posteed a comment on MySpace that because she chose to love, her child is gone. I feel for her loss. I do. It is very sad that some of our sistas DO NOT understand that the tragedy is not choosing to love…the tragedy is choosing DYSFUNCTIONAL MEN.
What a horrible, sad, tragic story….but although one of the family members THIS time is a celebrity and Oscar-winner….THIS STORY keeps showing up in print in papers all over the country on a daily basis: Black families dealing with the aftermath of murder.
In this case, it seems that perhaps there was a mentally or emotionally ill person who had access to the family, who regularly caused mayhem for the family and was never viewed by the family as a possible murderer… far too many black folks DO NOT think mentally ill people are dangerous for reasons I can not understand.
Why do we continue saying “he’s tripping!” and “she’s tripping!” instead of naming the behavior what it is: UNTREATED mental and emotional illness!
How many more relatives have to show up in tears and NOT even realize that their complacency in addressing mental dysfunction in their own homes and families is part of the tragedy?
As we pray for this family, let us pray for ALL OF THE FAMILIES whose tragedies do not have the national spotlight but whose pain and sorrow is not any less.
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa
I generally don’t believe in the death penalty as administered by the state usually, however, I believe in it on a more personal level. If these were my family members I would personally request licensing by the state to handle the execution myself. I won’t be explicit on how it would be accomplished for reasons of public taste. I do pray for Ms. Hudson and her family. I am more than sad. I’m enraged.
when you consider how Julian was murdered (shot multiple times, today it was revealed his hand cut off) and throw in the two additional murders of Hudson’s brother and mother, the murderer has forfeited his right to live. Once you take someone else’s life willingly and torture them, being able to spend the rest of your life in jail is a privilege compared to someone else’s lives being cut short.
The death penalty should only be an option in the case of extreme situations (serial killers, serial rapists, killers of children) and while we cannot play God, murderers obviously see no problem in trying to do that. God will ultimately determine their fate on His own but if we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone did this, they deserve a fair punishment that fits the crime.
My prayers go out to Jennifer and her family because this is a horrible situation that appears to be getting worse by the minute.
Senator Obama expressed my general opinion on the death penalty. It does not deter crime and should not be rationalized or justified for that reason. Capital punishment has a place in society as a way of demonstrating the community’s full measure of condemnation for crimes that are particularly heinous and proven without a shred of doubt. When the killer is caught red handed so to speak I don’t have a problem with the death penalty. Timothy McVey, the guy who murdered Matthew Shepherd etc… A series of shootings of this type fit the bill for me.
Should Balfour be proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, I’d be honored to pull the switch myself.
If Balfour did it and it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, I hope they kill him and he rots in hell. But right now, my heart goes out to Jennifer and Julia. A friend of mine was brutally murdered so I can only imagine what they are going through.
That kind of pain only goes away when you see your murdered loved ones again alive and well.
I’m praying for all of them.