Julian King is Shot

We can easily say that Jennifer Hudson is living out her lifelong dream. She won American Idol in 2004 and is now a Grammy Award-winning musician/singer. Now, she has to cope with tragedy: the death of one of her beloved nephews, Julian King, who was shot in the back of the head, allegedly by his stepfather and left on the floor of an SUV. However, no charges have been filed yet.

Days before the discovery of the body, Julia Hudson, Julian’s mother and Jennifer Hudson’s sister, made a tearful plea, part of it directly to King: “I want my baby back. He’s out there. Just let him go”. Speaking directly to King, “I love you. Mama’s looking for you”.

Jennifer Hudson, meanwhile, had pleaded on her MySpace page for her nephew to be found alive, even offering a $100000 reward. Before King’s tragic death, Hudson released the following statement: “Thank you for all your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely. Thank you all for being there for us during this tough time”.

The body was covered up with heavy plastic and other materials to hide it from investigators. The outrage shouldn’t be so much for the murder (as murders, sadly and unfortunately, are common throughout the US), but instead should be directed at why someone did this to an innocent child. King was only 7 years old when he was shot. What could he have possibly done to deserve his tragic fate?

For Hudson, who also lost her mother, Darnell Donerson and brother, Jason Hudson in this latest spate of violence, she must show tenacity and grit to get her through this crisis, the same traits, along with her humility, that helped her win American Idol in 2004.