Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Inside Jennifer Hudson's murder tragedy

How will the star cope with losing the family she loved so much?

Jennifer Hudson has lost her mother, brother and nephew

Just a few weeks ago, Jennifer Hudson was a woman on top of the world. Already an Oscar- winning actress, she was celebrating the success of her debut album.

The 27-year-old was also promoting her new film The Secret Life Of Bees and getting ready for her ‘huge’ wedding to fiancé David Otunga, a reality TV star.

But on 24 October, the 27-year-old Dreamgirls star’s world was shattered when she learnt that her mother Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother Jason, 29, had been shot dead in the home she grew up in in crime-ridden Englewood, Chicago.

Three days later, the body of Jennifer’s 7-year-old nephew Julian was found in Jason's missing white SUV.

Jennifer identified Julian for the police because her sister Julia, his mum, couldn't face it. ‘She was so strong for her family,’ says spokesman Sean Howard. ‘She was the leader.’

Since then, the star’s remained out of sight in Chicago, inconsolable over the loss of almost her entire family.

It was Jennifer’s mother who encouraged her to audition for American Idol in 2004. It was the break she needed, even though she only made it to the final seven after Simon Cowell said she was ‘out of her depth’.

Jennifer, whose father Samuel, a bus driver, died when she was a teenager, proved the music mogul wrong. By 2006, she had a multi-million-dollar record deal and a host of awards for Dreamgirls. She’s since won more than 30 awards and sang the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in August, at the request of newly elected president Barack Obama.

Now her dreams are in tatters. ‘It’s mind-blowing,’ a friend of Jennifer tells Now. ‘She had everything – the stellar career, fans and a loving fiancé – but she’d have traded everything for her family. It’s beyond a tragedy.’

See the full story in Now magazine dated 10 November 2008 - out now!