Horrific news this morning in connection with a pair of bodies found Monday afternoon in a county forest preserve. The bodies were identified as Milton and Ruby McClendon, parents of CLTV host Garrard McClendon. According to the Tribune: more ›

• Former FBI agent Vo Duong "Ben" Tran is now the main suspect in a 2002 North Side double homicide.
• Linda Pithyou, 29, a teacher at Lawrence Hall Services, has been accused of having sex with one of her teen students.
• John Morphey, the brother of Tom Morphey - the lone witness in the case of Stacy Peterson's disappearance - is speaking to the press on his brother's behalf and, guess what, he thinks Drew killed her.

The Sun-Times is reporting today that Nova Henry's daughter Ava, the 10-month-old girl killed this weekend along with Nova, is the biological daughter of former Bull Eddy Curry, who also fathered Nova's son Noah. Noah was found in the apartment with the bodies of his mother and sister, but was unharmed. DNA tests filed in court last fall confirmed Curry as Ava's father, though Ava carries the last name of Fred Goings, Nova's ex-boyfriend that was questioned by police and that Nova had sought an order of protection against in 2007. According to the S-T:

Curry, a former Chicago Bull and Thornwood High School standout, also has a 3-year-old son with Henry and was ordered to pay $6,000 a month in child support. Two months after Curry was determined to be Ava’s father, Curry’s child support payments to Henry increased to $15,000 a month, according to court papers.

Noah Curry, the three-year-old son of Eddy Curry and Nova Henry, has identified the man who killed Nova as well as Ava Henry, Noah's baby sister. A family member claims that Noah told them, "Fred did it," Fred being Nova's abusive ex-boyfriend Fredrick Goings. Goings is the man Chicago Police took into custody this weekend and questioned about the murder, only to eventually release him. The move infuriated the Henry family. Said Tom Henry, an uncle living in Houston, "They're afraid he's going to come back...They're terrified." Meanwhile, ex-Bull and current-Knick player Curry was spotted at his parents home, finally coming to Chicago after several days of "preparation." more ›

Nova Henry was to attend her grandmother's funeral on Saturday but when she didn't show up for a hair appointment, family members suspected something was wrong. Nova's mother, Yolan Henry, went to Nova's South Loop apartment where she discovered Nova's body as well as the body of Nova's young daughter Ava; her three-year-old son was asleep on a chair, his mother and sister's blood on his hands and feet. Yolan said of the discovery, "I wish I didn't find her. I wish nobody had found her like that." In interviews with the Trib, family members described how Nova had moved to the apartment shortly after Christmas and had installed a security system just last week, all efforts to get away from an ex-boyfriend who was stalking her. The ex-boyfriend, who had previously had an order of protection issued against him by Henry, was interviewed by police but released on bail, charged only with trespassing for refusing to leave the hotel where police found him. There are still no suspects and not many leads. more ›

Police have taken into custody an unnamed man for questioning in regards to Saturday's killing of Nova Henry and her 9-month-old daughter Ava. According to the Trib, the man "had a romantic relationship with Henry and served as a lawyer for her" and was taken into custody from a hotel in Michigan City, Indiana yesterday. Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond didn't elaborate on the arrest, simply saying, "We can't comment on any arrests or confirm that the subject arrested in Michigan City is the target of this investigation. No suspects have been named, and detectives continue to talk to a number of people." Henry had filed an order of protection against the man in custody in April 2007 only to have it dismissed a few weeks later. Henry's son, three-year-old Noah, was found unharmed in the apartment, but is believed to have witnessed the murders and was left with the bodies for several hours before Henry's mother discovered them. Noah is Henry's son with ex-Bull and current Knick Eddy Curry. more ›

The woman found murdered in her South Loop apartment yesterday has been identified as Nova Henry, 24, the mother of (former Chicago Bull) Eddy Curry's son. Henry's nine-month-old daughter Ava was also found murdered in the apartment. A three-year-old boy believed to be Curry's son was found in the building unharmed. Henry's mother discovered the bodies yesterday evening around 6 p.m. more ›

Singer/actress Jennifer Hudson took to her MySpace blog this week to issue a quick note of thanks to fans for support since the triple murders that claimed her mother, brother, and nephew. In the post, Hudson said:

I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. My sister and I take great comfort and strength from your love and concern. jhud

William Balfour, the "person of interest" in the Hudson murders, will remain in police custody. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board considered testimony from William Balfour's girlfriend that she saw him with a gun on the day of the shootings matching the murder weapon as evidence enough to revoke his parole and keep him in police custody while investigators continue to examine how he's connected to the triple-murder. The Parole Board also ruled the June 19th drug arrest as grounds for revoking Balfour's parole even though it was considered so at the time, something that is sure to come under intense scrutiny if Balfour is charged in the Hudson slayings. more ›

William Balfour, the "person of interest" in the killings of the mother, brother, and nephew of Jennifer Hudson, is scheduled for a parole hearing this morning that many news outlets are touting as something that could allow Balfour to "go free." The parole hearing, which was to happen at 9 a.m. this morning in Stateville, will determine if there is enough evidence in the Hudson case to constitute a violation of Balfour's parole and keep him in custody while police continue their investigation; charges still haven't been filed in the late October incident. In the latest development, the Trib is reporting law enforcement sources as saying Balfour has not only admitted to being in the Englewood home of Hudson's family (where Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson and brother Jason Hudson were found shot) the morning of the shooting, but is saying that Balfour's current girlfriend claims Balfour admitted to being involved in the killings. more ›

As Chicago police announced the gun they had found earlier this week in an alley was indeed the gun used in last week's killings of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew, they're now trying to track the gun from it's origins to Chicago. The ATF has traced the gun back to its original owner in Michigan, who reported it stolen. Now it appears that Jason Hudson may have owned an identical gun that was stolen earlier this year from the Englewood home where he and his mother, Darnell Donerson, were shot to death last Friday. If this holds true, it points another finger at suspect William Balfour, who had been thrown out of the home by the family earlier this year. However, police say they're keeping all options open as their investigation continues. Also surfacing is a report that Jason was shot in the leg in an incident earlier this year, an injury he never sought medical treatment for. more ›

For the third time in three days, Chicago native and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson identified a murder victim as a family member. This time, it was her 7-year-old nephew Julian King, telling the medical examiner, "Yes, that's him." As of this morning, William Balfour remains in police custody, and while he has not been charged, he seems to remain the primary suspect in the case. Police report William had been answering questions but stopped cooperating when offered a lie-detector test. His MySpace page declares him husband to Julia and step-father to Julian, and police are still looking at the crime as the culmination of an ongoing domestic dispute over a car.

In another incident, sources said, Julia Hudson arrived Friday morning at Sunrise Bus Co. on payday and discovered her wages had been garnished because of unpaid car payments. Sources said Balfour had taken her car months earlier but promised to make the payments on the vehicle. After seeing her pay stub, Julia Hudson called Balfour to complain about the unpaid bills, sources said.

Following up on the earlier mention in "Extra, Extra," it seems that the two victims of the double homicide on the South Side were the mother and brother of actress/singer Jennifer Hudson and a child, possibly Hudson's nephew Julian King (left), was missing; an Amber Alert has been issued. While police have not officially named the victims yet, the house where the bodies were found (the 7000 block of South Yale Avenue) belongs to Hudson's mother, Darnell Donnerson, and while the Trib is holding off on identifying the victims, the Sun-Times is quoting law enforcement sources in naming the victims as Donnerson and Hudson's brother, Jason. According to her bodyguard, Hudson was not involved in the incident. more ›