4 teens charged in murder of off-duty cop

Four teens have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Chicago police officer Aréanah Preston, who was fatally shot during what prosecutors say was a string of armed robberies by the group.

Joseph Brooks, 18, Jakwon Buchanan, 18, Trevell Breeland, 19, and Jaylan Frazier, 16, were ordered held without bail Wednesday by Judge David Kelly, who said prosecutors had provided “a mountain of evidence“ that the suspects had “engaged in a very violent crime spree.”

After the hearing, Preston's mother, Dionne Mhoon, said she stood inside the criminal courthouse “as a mother, a heartbroken mother, a mother that's full of anger, rage, questions why.”

But, she added, “the people I really felt sorry for were those boys. I felt sorry for them because nobody ... told them that they were loved. Nobody told them that you could do anything, like I constantly preached to my daughters.”

• For the full report, visit chicago.suntimes.com.