The man accused of killing three relatives of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, will stand trial for murder in April 2012, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns said William Balfour will stand accused of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnaping and home invasion in the case of the slayings of Hudson's mother, brother and nephew in 2008.
Prosecutors say Balfour - who was the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia - drove to the Hudson family home in Englewood on Chicago's South Side after becoming jealous because his wife was seeing another man. Balfour is accused of fatally shooting Jennifer's mother, 57, and brother Jason, 29, and then grabbing the singer's 7-year-old nephew Julian King before shooting him inside Jason's Suv, which he then left parked on the city's West Side. Balfour's lawyers have gotten the trial delayed on one previous occassion and were seeking a further delay this week, claiming they need more time to build their case. Testimony is expected to begin on April 23, 2012.
Hudson is an American Idol finalist, who won an Oscar in 2006 for her performance in Dreamgirls. She has only recently started talking about the devastating murders, and revealed she was almost at her family's home at the time of the killings, before making a spontaneous trip to watch her fiance David Otunga in his World Wrestling Entertainment match.