The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has announced the guilty plea of a man accused of shooting and killing a Chicago police officer and Illinois State University graduate.
Joseph Brooks, 22, was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the first-degree murder of Aréanah Preston by Cook County Judge Adrienne Davis.
“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,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke.
“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.”
Preston, a 2020 ISU graduate, was killed in an attempted armed robbery on May 6, 2023. Shortly after her murder, ISU faculty remembered her as “exactly the type of person you hope will enter law enforcement.”
The confrontation happened at her home in the Avalon Park neighborhood on Chicago’s south side as she returned home after her shift.
Authorities said Brooks and three other armed offenders approached Preston after she parked her car and attempted to rob her as she exited the vehicle. The offenders used a stolen car in their attempt to rob Preston as well as other multiple armed robberies the same day.
After shooting Preston, the group burned the stolen vehicle and fled the scene, where they were ultimately arrested following a SWAT standoff, according to prosecutors.
Cases for the co-defendants, Travell Breeland, Jakwon Buchanan and Jaylen Frazier, are pending.
