Serenity Broughton: Parent loses 7-year-old daughter in Chicago shooting

A parent has lost their 7-year-old girl named Serenity Broughton in a Chicago shooting. Their younger daughter who was also involved is “fighting for her life”.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the children, named Serenity Broughton, 7, and her 6-year-old sister, Aubrey, were struck Sunday when their mother put them in the back seat of a car in a “gang-conflict neighborhood” in the city’s Belmont Central region.

The terrified girls clung to each other as bullets flew and chaos reigned around them, their grandmother, Regina Broughton, told the Chicago Tribune late Sunday.

“They were hugging,” the grandma said. “When they separated and pulled apart, there was blood on both of them.

“Serenity’s injury was fatal. The bullet pierced her heart — she didn’t have a chance,” The grandma said the family is trying to figure out how to tell Aubrey that her beloved big sister, whom she nicknamed “Honey,” Nypost reported.

“[Aubrey] asked me today, ‘Where is she?’ and why hasn’t she come to see her. ‘Where is Honey?’ ” the grandma said.

“To say that I am sad and outraged would be an understatement,” McDermott said Sunday. “I can only hope that every resident of this city is angry, saddened, and outraged as I am at this time. Too many young people have lost their lives to senseless gun violence in the city of Chicago.”

McDermott called for locals to give investigators anything they might know about the incident that killed Serenity, who was shot in the chest and torso and badly injured her sister, who was shot in the chest and armpit.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the little children were among 47 individuals shot around the city from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, five of whom were died.

According to the Sun-Times, community leader Andrew Holmes is offering a $2,000 prize for information leading to a break in the sisters’ shooting.

“It’s not about the money, it’s just about catching these individuals before they strike and hit another child,” Holmes said. “Stop killing our children.”

Aubrey Broughton was taken out of an intensive care unit at a Maywood hospital late Sunday, although he suffered a punctured lung, according to CBS Chicago.

“She keeps saying, ‘It’s not your fault, Mommy. It’s not your fault,’ ” the grandma said. “She keeps saying, ‘It’s not your fault, Mommy. It’s not your fault,’ ” the grandma said.

“I’m lost, I’m lost,” Regina Broughton said. “I mean, they were my life, my everything. How do you prepare yourself for something like this?”.

“Someone should come forth and help the family and help us — because it didn’t have to happen to her,” she said of Serenity. “It shouldn’t have happened to her. She was innocent.”

WLS-TV reported that more than 250 children had been shot in Chicago this year, with 32 of them fatally. Serenity Broughton would have turned eight years old in November.

Twitter Reactions

There have been several reactions on Twitter following the death of 7-year-old Serenity Broughton.

A man said: “Heartbroken for beautiful Serenity Broughton, taken from us by senseless gun violence; for her sister Aubrey, their family, and our city”.

Another said: “Chicago is out of control”. One said: “Got to ban guns it’s only getting worse”. Another said: “Serenity Broughton baby you deserved to b protected”.