CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A 24-year-old man, charged with the murder of a 7-year old-girl and the wounding of her 6-year-old sister two months ago on the Northwest Side, is to appear in bond court Thursday.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said Aireon Luster was arrested Wednesday in the basement of his grandmother's home in suburban Riverside. He's accused of being one of two shooters who fired at a house from an alley in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue, killing Serenity Broughton and wounding her sister, Aubrey. They were being put in a car at the time.
Regina Broughton, the girls' grandmother, said Wednesday evening that she was "elated" to hear the news that someone was charged in connection with her granddaughter's death. She said her son called her Wednesday evening about two hours before the Chicago Police Department's news conference.
Broughton relayed the news to Aubrey, telling her "they caught the [guy] who hurt you, they caught the [guy] who did this to you and took Serenity away."
Aubrey responded by saying "OK" in a soft, coy tone and clapping her hands.
"I feel like my family are one step closer to getting justice," Broughton said. "I feel like the justice system is working for us."
Meanwhile, Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said detectives are still trying to figure out who Luster's two alleged accomplices were.
"There was another individual in the alley that we believe discharged a firearm and then there's the driver of the vehicle who flees. So we're still asking for the public's help," he said.
"In this case, the public definitely gave some tips and we're asking for more information, because we believe that the public knows the other two people...We're hopefully certain that these guys have talked to somebody, have bragged about it, and somebody knows."
Deenihan said Aireon Luster was the same person who was arrested in the first place weeks ago, but was released when prosecutors said they didn't have a solid enough case.
"What's changed is we work with the State's Attorney's office to ensure we did a complete and thorough investigation, and we work together to get to get the defendant charged," he said.
Broughton said her family was feeling "down" after charges were initially rejected.
"We were feeling like there would be no justice and they came through," Broughton said.
Now, after a draining two months, Broughton said her family feels like a large weight has been lifted off of them.
"The trial will be a long time coming, but I'm looking forward to it," Broughton said. "I feel like a little bit of closure and justice has been served."
Aireon Luster, 24, is facing murder and attempted murder charges. He is due in court Thursday.
(WBBM Newsradio and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this copy.)
