William Balfour has finally been sentenced after being convicted of killing Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother-in-law, and nephew. Details inside....
After a long 4 years of seeking justice for the death of her family members, today justice was served. Chicago's Cook County Judge Charles Burns handed down three consecutive life sentences for the murders and 120 years for the additional felonies of home invasion and aggravated kidnapping.
Balfour's life sentence comes with no option of parole.
Jennifer, her sister Julia and her slain nephew Julian's father Gregory were all in the courtroom at the time of the sentencing today, and were tearful as this chapter came to a close.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Balfour had the audacity to give a statement to the court saying:
My condolences go out to the family. My deepest sympathies go to Julian King. I loved him. I still love him."
The judge didn't take kindly to this statement and rebutted:
"The fact that you can stand in court and tell us you love that child is an insult to all of us. There's no doubt in my mind he looked up to you as you were putting bullets into his head. I just hope his terror was short-lived."
A member of Balfour's family burst into tears and ran out of the courtroom.
Hopefully Jennifer and her family now have a least a bit of closure.