A Chicago resident has received a 55-year prison sentence for the murder of Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston. Officer Preston was fatally shot during a robbery while returning home from her shift in 2023, according to Cook County prosecutors on Thursday.
Judge Adrienne Davis imposed the sentence on Joseph Brooks, who admitted guilt in the crime. Brooks received 35 years for murder and an additional 20-year enhancement for using a gun. By law, Brooks is required to serve the entirety of this sentence.
Joseph Brooks acknowledged his guilt in the first-degree murder charge before Cook County Judge Adrienne Davis. He is among four individuals charged in connection with the May 6, 2023, murder of 24-year-old Preston, which prosecutors attribute to a series of armed robberies that occurred over several hours across Chicago’s South Side. Brooks confessed to shooting Preston as she attempted to draw her weapon during the robbery.
The events of May 6, 2023, unfolded when Jakwon Buchanan was contacted by his girlfriend seeking money for a barbecue. Buchanan, Brooks, and two other men allegedly roamed the area, armed and disguised in black clothing and face-covering masks, searching for victims to rob.
Prosecutors assert that the group robbed a woman at gunpoint on East 46th Street, seizing items including a Louis Vuitton belt, credit cards, identification, and her phone after forcing her to unlock it. They then stole a red Kia Forte, which they used for the rest of the night. The group allegedly continued their spree, robbing a 62-year-old woman and her companion on South Wallace and another man on South Merrill.
At approximately 1:42 a.m., Preston arrived at her home in Avalon Park, having completed her shift at a Far South Side police district. Surveillance footage captured the Kia passing her parked vehicle and returning. As Preston stood by the sidewalk, three men approached her from the vehicle. Prosecutors noted the presence of muzzle flashes on the video, originating near both Preston and the assailants.
Preston sustained fatal gunshot wounds to her face and neck. One of the men subsequently stole her service weapon. Co-defendant Jaylen Frazier allegedly informed his mother that the group later sold the officer’s gun.
A ShotSpotter detected nine gunshots, yet it took over 30 minutes for the first officer to arrive. This delay followed an alert from Preston’s Apple Watch, which registered what appeared to be a traffic crash, likely caused by her fall. Eleven shell casings were later recovered, with DNA tests linking them to Preston, Buchanan, and co-defendant Travell Breeland.
The group reportedly abandoned the Kia on South Eberhardt and attempted to burn it with lighter fluid. During the investigation of the fire, police discovered an illegally parked, unlicensed car nearby, which was the vehicle originally used that night. Inside, investigators found the first robbery victim’s identification and credit cards.
The day after the shooting, Frazier allegedly boasted about Preston’s murder to a friend, labeling it as “his work.” This friend reported the conversation to the police and assisted investigators in obtaining further confirmation from Frazier during a monitored phone call.
Two days post-murder, Buchanan contacted an ex-girlfriend requesting a place to stay to “lay low.” She agreed to pick him up from Breeland’s residence on South Bishop. However, law enforcement was surveilling the house, and officers stopped the Uber shortly after Buchanan entered. Buchanan was reportedly still wearing the Louis Vuitton belt stolen during the earlier robbery.
Upon exiting the car, Buchanan informed officers of a gun in his possession, equipped with an extended magazine and a device enabling automatic fire. An unloaded gun was found in the Uber’s back seat, identified as the source of nine shell casings at Preston’s murder scene, with fingerprints from Brooks, Breeland, and Buchanan reportedly present.
Brooks’ juvenile record includes offenses such as aggravated vehicular hijacking in 2022, armed robbery in 2021 and 2019, theft in 2020 and 2019, and additional robberies in 2019. A law enforcement source described Brooks and Buchanan as among the most prolific juvenile carjackers in Chicago from 2021 to 2023.
Buchanan’s juvenile infractions include robbery in 2019 and criminal trespass to vehicles in 2019, 2021, and 2022. He was the eighth individual accused of killing or attempting to kill someone in Chicago in 2023 while awaiting a felony trial. At the time of the killing, Frazier was on juvenile probation for armed robbery, and Breeland was on adult probation for illegal weapon use.
“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,” stated Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. “We will always feel the loss of this remarkable young woman.”
Legal proceedings for co-defendants Breeland, Buchanan, and Frazier are still ongoing.
