Serenity Broughton.Photo: FacebookA 7-year-old girl was killed and her 6-year-old sister was injured and left fighting for her life after gunfire peppered a parked car in which their mother was buckling them for a ride to their grandmother’s home in Chicago on Sunday.“I’m lost, I’m lost … I mean they were my life, my everything,” said the grandmother, Regina Broughton, reportsWLS. “How do you prepare yourself for something like this? She was a beautiful child. Her spirit was beautiful, innocent, everything about her was innocent.“The older girl, Serenity Broughton, was struck in the chest and torso and pronounced dead at a hospital after the incident that occurred about 2:50 p.m. Sunday on the city’s Northwest Side, reportsCBS Chicago.Her younger sister, Aubrey, was shot in the chest and right armpit and suffered a pierced lung, according to the outlet.Police have no one in custody and don’t yet know the origin of the gunfire.“We’re still trying to determine whether the offenders were on foot or in a car,” Officer Brian McDermott, chief of patrol for the Chicago Police Department, said at anews conference.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.“We don’t know how many shooters but I don’t believe that there was crossfire,” he said. “It is a gang conflict area but we don’t believe these children or their mother were the intended target.“Broughton, the children’s paternal grandmother, said her son was in the vehicle’s driver’s seat and the girls' mother had just finished buckling Aubrey into the backseat when the shots broke out.The girls' mother “heard what she thought was fireworks and at that point, the little, youngest one was holding herself and fell on the seat,” Broughton said, reports CBS Chicago. “The other sister was already in her car seat buttoned up, and my son said he grabbed her – and she was just lifeless.“The surviving sister, who was not initially told that her sister had died, “keeps saying it: ‘It’s not your fault, mommy. It’s not your fault,'” said Broughton.The two children were booked to fly with Broughton on Tuesday to Myrtle Beach, S.C., which would have been Serenity’s first plane ride, she said.“She just wanted to see the airport, wanted to go up on a plane, and I arranged that for her – and didn’t even get to see it,” Broughton said.Police asked that confidential tips be submitted throughCPDtip.com.“To say that I’m saddened and outraged would be an understatement,” said McDermott. “I can only hope that every resident in this city is as angry, saddened and outraged as I am.”
Serenity Broughton.Photo: Facebook
A 7-year-old girl was killed and her 6-year-old sister was injured and left fighting for her life after gunfire peppered a parked car in which their mother was buckling them for a ride to their grandmother’s home in Chicago on Sunday.“I’m lost, I’m lost … I mean they were my life, my everything,” said the grandmother, Regina Broughton, reportsWLS. “How do you prepare yourself for something like this? She was a beautiful child. Her spirit was beautiful, innocent, everything about her was innocent.“The older girl, Serenity Broughton, was struck in the chest and torso and pronounced dead at a hospital after the incident that occurred about 2:50 p.m. Sunday on the city’s Northwest Side, reportsCBS Chicago.Her younger sister, Aubrey, was shot in the chest and right armpit and suffered a pierced lung, according to the outlet.Police have no one in custody and don’t yet know the origin of the gunfire.“We’re still trying to determine whether the offenders were on foot or in a car,” Officer Brian McDermott, chief of patrol for the Chicago Police Department, said at anews conference.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.“We don’t know how many shooters but I don’t believe that there was crossfire,” he said. “It is a gang conflict area but we don’t believe these children or their mother were the intended target.“Broughton, the children’s paternal grandmother, said her son was in the vehicle’s driver’s seat and the girls’ mother had just finished buckling Aubrey into the backseat when the shots broke out.The girls' mother “heard what she thought was fireworks and at that point, the little, youngest one was holding herself and fell on the seat,” Broughton said, reports CBS Chicago. “The other sister was already in her car seat buttoned up, and my son said he grabbed her – and she was just lifeless.“The surviving sister, who was not initially told that her sister had died, “keeps saying it: ‘It’s not your fault, mommy. It’s not your fault,'” said Broughton.The two children were booked to fly with Broughton on Tuesday to Myrtle Beach, S.C., which would have been Serenity’s first plane ride, she said.“She just wanted to see the airport, wanted to go up on a plane, and I arranged that for her – and didn’t even get to see it,” Broughton said.Police asked that confidential tips be submitted throughCPDtip.com.“To say that I’m saddened and outraged would be an understatement,” said McDermott. “I can only hope that every resident in this city is as angry, saddened and outraged as I am.”
A 7-year-old girl was killed and her 6-year-old sister was injured and left fighting for her life after gunfire peppered a parked car in which their mother was buckling them for a ride to their grandmother’s home in Chicago on Sunday.
“I’m lost, I’m lost … I mean they were my life, my everything,” said the grandmother, Regina Broughton, reportsWLS. “How do you prepare yourself for something like this? She was a beautiful child. Her spirit was beautiful, innocent, everything about her was innocent.”
The older girl, Serenity Broughton, was struck in the chest and torso and pronounced dead at a hospital after the incident that occurred about 2:50 p.m. Sunday on the city’s Northwest Side, reportsCBS Chicago.
Her younger sister, Aubrey, was shot in the chest and right armpit and suffered a pierced lung, according to the outlet.
Police have no one in custody and don’t yet know the origin of the gunfire.
“We’re still trying to determine whether the offenders were on foot or in a car,” Officer Brian McDermott, chief of patrol for the Chicago Police Department, said at anews conference.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
“We don’t know how many shooters but I don’t believe that there was crossfire,” he said. “It is a gang conflict area but we don’t believe these children or their mother were the intended target.”
Broughton, the children’s paternal grandmother, said her son was in the vehicle’s driver’s seat and the girls’ mother had just finished buckling Aubrey into the backseat when the shots broke out.
The girls' mother “heard what she thought was fireworks and at that point, the little, youngest one was holding herself and fell on the seat,” Broughton said, reports CBS Chicago. “The other sister was already in her car seat buttoned up, and my son said he grabbed her – and she was just lifeless.”
The surviving sister, who was not initially told that her sister had died, “keeps saying it: ‘It’s not your fault, mommy. It’s not your fault,'” said Broughton.
The two children were booked to fly with Broughton on Tuesday to Myrtle Beach, S.C., which would have been Serenity’s first plane ride, she said.
“She just wanted to see the airport, wanted to go up on a plane, and I arranged that for her – and didn’t even get to see it,” Broughton said.
Police asked that confidential tips be submitted throughCPDtip.com.
“To say that I’m saddened and outraged would be an understatement,” said McDermott. “I can only hope that every resident in this city is as angry, saddened and outraged as I am.”
source: people.com
