William Balfour, the brother-in-law of singer Jennifer Hudson, has pleaded not guilty to the shooting of three members of her family.

The Grammy-nominated singer's mother, brother and nephew were killed at their home in Chicago last October.

Balfour was arrested shortly after the killings and charged with first-degree murder last month.

Prosecutors claim the 27-year-old shot the three family members because he was angry his estranged wife, Hudson's sister Julia, had been seeing another man.

Balfour denied charges of first-degree murder and home invasion yesterday (January 20th) at Cook County Court, Chicago.

As previously reported, Hudson is due to make her first performance since the killings at the Super Bowl on February 2nd.

The singer will also appear at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles six days later.

(by Jason Gregory)