CHICAGO — Moments after finding her mother’s body, the sister of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson sobs as she pleads for help in a disturbing 911 recording released to the news media Monday.
“Oh my God. … Somebody’s killed my mother,” Julia Hudson says, while a dispatcher tries to get her to calm down and repeat her address. “She’s on the floor and I see blood coming from her head.”
A judge in Chicago released the tape after a request by the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times Media and the Associated Press. The tape was played in open court last week during the trial of William Balfour, who is accused of killing the actress’ mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
Prosecutors tried to bar the tape’s release because of the sensitive nature of the case and because the jury has not begun deliberating.
But Cook County Judge Charles Burns noted in his ruling that the jury has been warned not to watch or read news reports about the case. Burns said there’s no evidence Balfour’s due process rights would be harmed.
On the tape, Julia Hudson begs a dispatcher for help after finding her mother shot dead inside the family’s home on Chicago’s South Side.
Hudson’s horror and confusion are apparent on the tape as she wonders aloud, “Where my brother at? What happened?”
She also cries in panic that she doesn’t know the location of her son, 7-year-old Julian.
“I don’t know where Julian is or nothing and I’m here by myself,” she says. She tells the dispatcher she “just got home from work” and “there’s a bullet hole in our front door.”
Balfour has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the October 2008 killings.
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