UPDATE: TheRoot.com reports that closing arguments for both sides have been completed as of 2:23pm CST, and the jury is out for deliberation. Jennifer Hudson, seated with her fiancé David Otunga and sister Julia Hudson, kept her head lowered and wept during the hour-long closing. A verdict is expected as soon as this evening, according to TMZ. 
After two weeks of testimony by 83 witnesses, including an emotional Jennifer Hudson, closing arguments begin today in the murder trial of William Balfour, the man accused of brutally murdering the singer's mother, brother and nephew in 2008.
The jury could begin deliberations as early as this afternoon, NBC News Chicago speculates. Balfour pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory life prison term.
The prosecution's two weeks of grisly testimony ended on Tuesday with them showing pictures of Hudson's nephew. He was found in an SUV, shot in the head, covered by a shower curtain and surrounded by shell casings, officers testified.
The defense then called only two witnesses in their short presentation, both detectives who had previously testified for the prosecution, and tried to convince the jury of a botched investigation.

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(Photo: Cook County Sheriff's Department via Getty Images)