Hudson leaves court to avoid grisly photos

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Jennifer Hudson shut her eyes tight Tuesday, holding still on a spectators’ bench, as a police officer at the trial of the man accused of killing three members of the Oscar winner’s family described coming across bloodied bodies at the Chicago home where Hudson grew up.

Before prosecutors projected dozens of photographs of her mother sprawled on a living room floor in a blood-soaked, white nightgown and her brother shot through the head on his bed, the 30-year-old singer and actress left the room to avoid having to watch the disturbing images.

On the second day of testimony — a day after Hudson herself offered tearful testimony from the witness stand — prosecutors shifted the spotlight to the crime-scene evidence in the case against her former brother-in-law, William Balfour.

Balfour was estranged from his wife, Hudson’s sister, at the time of the killings. He has pleaded not guilty to murdering Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. He sat with his eyes fixed on the murder-scene photographs on a screen, but he didn’t wince or show other signs of emotion.

Several of the photographs showed Hudson’s 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, face down on the floor, a large blood stain where she was shot through the back. Donald Fanelli, the forensics expert who was on the scene that day, testified that Hudson’s mother may have used a broom by her hand in one picture in a desperate attempt to fend off the attacker.