The premiere episode of Geraldo Rivera’s celebrity true-crime series will explore the 2008 murders of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
“Geraldo Rivera’s Murder in the Family,” which is scheduled to premiere at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Reelz network, features fictionalized re-enactments and interviews with former Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney James McKay; longtime entertainment journalist Alicia Quarles; and crime author Michael Benson. The re-enactments and interviews were filmed in Maryland, which is the area where the production team is based, though the murders took place in Chicago.
The hour-long episode is set to air just days after the 10th anniversary of the killings. Darnell Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, were shot to death in their Englewood neighborhood home on Oct. 24, 2008. Julian King — the son of Jennifer’s older sister, Julia — was abducted from the home and found fatally shot three days later in an SUV parked on the West Side.
William Balfour, who was Julia Hudson’s estranged husband at the time, was charged in the triple murder. McKay was the lead prosecutor. A Cook County jury convicted Balfour in May 2012, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Balfour, 37, is serving his sentence downstate at the Pontiac Correctional Center.
Jennifer Hudson, meanwhile, has experienced much professional success in the last decade. The Burr Ridge resident is a coach on Season 15 of “The Voice,” which airs Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC; and she will return as a coach on the upcoming season of “The Voice UK.” She is slated to play Aretha Franklin in her biopic and has been cast in the big-screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage musical “Cats.”
Personally, though, the 37-year-old South Side native continues to battle in Cook County court with her ex-fiance, lawyer-turned-professional-wrestler David Otunga, over financial support and a parenting schedule for their 9-year-old son. The case, which was filed nearly a year ago, is set to go to trial here in March. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 20.
Rivera, a Fox News correspondent, also dives into the family tragedies of celebrities Dylan McDermott, Kelsey Grammer, Donatella Versace, Woody Harrelson and Dave Navarro on his new show.
tswartz@tribpub.com
Twitter @tracyswartz
