Celebrities touched by tragedy

Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were murdered Oct. 24, 2008, by her sister Julia's estranged husband, William Balfour. Balfour was sentenced to life in prison for the murders in July 2012.

Kid Rock's assistant, Michael Sacha, 30, was found dead the early morning of April 25, 2016, after an ATV accident at the musician's Nashville home. According to police, Sacha drove two people down the property's driveway to meet an Uber driver at midnight. He apparently crashed while riding the ATV back to the house and was eventually found by Kid Rock and a friend. The singer, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, released a statement on his website describing Sacha as "a member of our family and one of the greatest young men I have ever had the pleasure to not only work with, but also to become friends with."

John Travolta and Kelly Preston's 16-year-old son Jett died in January 2009 while the family was on a Christmas vacation in The Bahamas. Jett, who had autism and suffered regular seizures, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of their resort home early in the morning. The tragedy was made all the worse several days later when a multi-million dollar extortion plot aimed at Travolta regarding his son's death was uncovered. It was also not the first time Travolta's life has been touched by tragedy. The actor had been in a relationship with "Eight is Enough" actress Diana Hyland, whom he had met while filming "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," when she died of breast cancer in 1977.

Tragedy struck Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan at the peak of his career when his father, James R. Jordan Sr., was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina. Two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery, were traced from calls they made on James Jordan's cell phone and eventually arrested. They were later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Michael Jordan cited his father's death as one of the reasons for his first retirement in the fall of 1993.

Ennis Cosby, the 27-year-old son of comedian-actor Bill Cosby, was fatally shot Jan. 16, 1997, in an attempted robbery while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles. Mikhail Markhasev, an 18-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, was eventually convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery in the shooting and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Bill Cosby had used Ennis, his only son, as the basis for Theo Huxtable, played by Malcolm Jamal Warner, on the sitcom "The Cosby Show."

Liam Neeson lost his wife, British actress Natasha Richardson, when she died on March 18, 2009, two days after suffering a head injury when she fell during a ski lesson in Quebec, Canada. The couple had appeared together in the movie "Nell" and had been married since 1994. Richardson, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and the sister of actress Joely Richardson, was also known for her roles in movies such as "The Parent Trap" and "Maid in Manhattan."

Eric Clapton's son Conor died at age 4 on March 20, 1991, when he fell out the window of his mother's friend's 53rd floor apartment in Manhattan. Clapton was not there at the time of the accident but was staying at a nearby hotel. His song "Tears In Heaven" is about Conor and would earn Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Male Vocal Performance in 1993.

Paul Newman's eldest and only son, Scott, died on Nov. 28, 1978, from an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol. In A.E. Hotchner's 2010 book "Paul and Me," he wrote that Newman told him, "There's nothing you can say that will repair my guilt about Scott. It will be with me as long as I live."