Aireon Luster, 24, Charged With Murder Of 7-Year-Old Serenity Broughton, Attempted Murder Of 6-Year-Old Aubrey Broughton
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago police announced murder charges against a 24-year-old man Wednesday night in the August shooting that killed 7-year-old Serenity Broughton, and injured her 6-year-old sister, Aubrey.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said 24-year-old Aireon Luster has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting. Luster was arrested Wednesday morning in the basement of his grandmother's home in suburban Riverside, after he was identified as one of two gunmen responsible for the shooting.
Luster is expected in court on Thursday.
"These charges are the beginning, we hope, of bringing some measure of closure to the grieving family of these two innocent little girls who were sitting in a parked car when they were struck by gunfire," Brown said.
The charges come one month after Cook County prosecutors declined charges against Luster, who had been taken into custody in September. At the time, prosecutors said there was not sufficient evidence to file charges.
Police did not provide specifics on what new evidence helped them secure charges now.
"What's changed is we worked with the State's Attorney's office to be sure we did a thorough and complete investigation, and we worked together to get the defendant charged," Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said.
Deenihan said police are asking for public's help finding a second gunman and the getaway driver involved in the shooting. Detectives have yet to identify those two suspects.
"We believe that the public knows these two individuals, who are probably associated with Luster, and are part of this," Deenihan said. "We're hopefully certain that these guys have talked to somebody, have bragged about it, and somebody knows."
Acknowledging that potential witnesses could be afraid to come forward, Deenihan said police can provide tips anonymously online at CPDTip.com
Serenity and Aubrey were shot on Sunday, August 15, in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood.
Deenihan said the girls and their parents were visiting a relative at the time, and their mother and father were getting them into the back seat of their car, when three people in another vehicle pulled into a nearby alley, and two of them got out, and started shooting in the direction of the family's car.
The shooters then got back in their vehicle and fled the scene.
Police said they believe the shooters were targeting a relative who lived at the home.
Serenity was shot in the chest and torso, and was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. Aubrey was shot in the chest and right armpit, has a pierced lung and was being treated at Loyola. McDermott said the girls' mother was getting them into the back seat of the car when the shots rang out.
The girls' paternal grandmother, Regina Broughton, told reporters that her son – the girl's father – was on the driver's side of the car while their mother had just finished buckling Aubrey in. At that point, the shots rang out, and Serenity was lifeless, Broughton said days after the shooting.
"The monster that did this to my granddaughter – I want them caught," she said. "It could have been my whole family, because they were all in the car together."
Luster is due to appear in bond court Thursday afternoon.
