Prosecutors Announce 55-Year Prison Sentence for the Murder of Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston

CHICAGO - The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office today announces the guilty plea of Joseph Brooks for the 2023 murder of Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston, who was killed in an attempted armed robbery as she returned home after the end of her shift. 

Brooks, 22, was sentenced to 55 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to First-Degree Murder before Cook County Judge Adrienne Davis. Brooks is one of four offenders charged in the killing of Preston, 24, which occurred during an armed robbery spree that lasted for hours on May 6, 2023. 

Preston encountered the offenders after parking her car outside her home in the Avalon Park neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. As she exited her vehicle, a group of masked, armed offenders approached and attempted to rob her. During the confrontation, Preston was shot and died at the scene. 

According to prosecutors, the group stole a Kia and used it in the attempted armed robbery of Preston, as well as in multiple other armed robberies that same day. After the shooting, the offenders burned the vehicle and fled to an apartment, where they were ultimately arrested following a SWAT standoff, prosecutors said. 

“Officer Aréanah Preston’s life was tragically cut short by an extreme and senseless act of violence, the very kind she dedicated her career to combating,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said. We will always feel the loss of this remarkable young woman. I hope this conviction brings a measure of accountability and some comfort to Aréanah’s family, her friends, and her colleagues in the Chicago Police Department. We will continue seeking justice in the co-defendant cases that are pending.” 

State’s Attorney Burke thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Bonnie Greenstein and Jane Sack for handling the case, Victim-Witness Specialists Laura Marsicek and Terri Durkin for their support through the proceedings, and the Chicago Police Department for their investigation of the case.  

Cases for his co-defendants—Travell Breeland, Jakwon Buchanan, and Jaylen Frazier—remain pending.