Hudson says she forgives Balfour

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CHICAGO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Singer-actress Jennifer Hudson says she forgives her former brother-in-law for killing three members of her family in Chicago in 2008.

William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia, was recently sentenced to life in prison for murdering the entertainer's mother and brother, as well as Julia's 7-year-old son.

Jennifer Hudson talked about the tragedy in an interview to air Sunday night on "Oprah's Next Chapter," E! News said.

"For the most part, it's not his fault," the Oscar-winning "Dreamgirls" actress said of Balfour.

"It's what he was taught, how he was brought up," she said. "Had you had the love my mother gave us, or the background that, you know, some have, then you would've stood a chance."

E! News quoted Hudson as telling Oprah Winfrey she hasn't visited her family's graves since their funerals, but thinks she is now ready to go.

"Now I want to go because I feel like: 'OK, we've accomplished this. We've done this, we got justice for you,'" she said. "I can't come back here empty-handed. So I came back with justice being served. So now I feel like I deserve to be able to see them."