Overview
- Joseph Brooks, 22, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 55 years by Judge Adrienne Davis, which Illinois law requires he serve in full.
- Trevell Breeland, Jakwon Buchanan and Jaylen Frazier remain charged in the case and are awaiting trial.
- Preston, 24, was off duty but in uniform when she was fatally shot outside her Avalon Park home on May 6, 2023 during an attempted robbery tied to a hours-long spree.
- Prosecutors said surveillance video, shell casings with DNA profiles, and fingerprints linked the group to the scene, and they said Brooks admitted he fired when he saw Preston reach for her service weapon.
- Authorities said the group used a stolen Kia during several robberies before confronting Preston, then burned the car and fled to an apartment where police later made arrests.