Santa surprises Chicago girl, 6, who was wounded in a shooting that killed her sister: ‘I love her’

Aubrey Broughton’s sixth Christmas Eve started in a curious way: sitting in a van with her parents in the parking lot of the Chicago Police Department’s 5th District station in Pullman.

“What’s going on?” she kept asking her mom and dad, Danielle and Michael.

They told her the family was making a quick stop on their way to McDonald’s. A few minutes turned into 10, then 20.

Then, the long wait proved worth it. In came Santa Claus on his sleigh, OK, a horse-drawn carriage, with toys in tow — literally in tow, carried on the back of two tow trucks playing Christmas music.

Aubrey’s face lit up when she saw the man in red, her mask unable to hide her smile. When the sleigh pulled up, she walked up to Santa and gave him a high-five. Saint Nick asked whether she’d been naughty or nice this year, and Aubrey whispered “nice,” then began digging through her new toys.

In a very trying year, it was just what Aubrey and her parents needed. In August, Aubrey’s older sister Serenity Broughton, 7, was killed in a shooting outside their grandma’s house on the Northwest Side. Aubrey was wounded but survived.

Aireon Luster, 24, later was arrested and has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the shooting, which happened in an alley in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue as the girls’ mother was getting them into their car.

“The look on her face was priceless,” Michael Broughton said after Santa’s business was over. “She’s so happy. I know she can’t wait to get home and open up everything. I’m not getting any sleep: She’s going to be up all night.

“Every day is different,” he said of the grieving process the past few months. “All she ever says is, ‘I miss my sister so much.’ They were so close. And the memories I have of that day, there are certain things that trigger me.”

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

Danielle Broughton said she tries to mourn when Aubrey is in school or asleep, so she can be strong for her daughter and help her deal with the loss of her sister.

“Every day is still a struggle,” she said. “But I stand strong because I still have Aubrey here. In front of her, I’m all smiles and happy and encouraging her to think of positivity about her sister.

“To see her face light up the way it did means the world to me.”

Provided

On his days off, Santa goes by the name of Early Walker. He owns a towing company and is the founder of the anti-violence group “I’m Telling, Don’t Shoot.” Walker said he wanted to give Aubrey a positive memory to hold onto from this year.

“We often highlight the violence in the community, but we always forget about the trauma it causes the family, it causes the kids,” he said, as his helpers — the carriage and tow truck drivers — stood by, wearing elf hats.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

On her non-gift-delivering days, Santa’s reindeer, Prancer, is a horse named “Money” whose owner, Carrie Johnson, scrapped her Christmas plans at the last minute to make the surprise happen.

“When Early called me, I canceled my Hawaii trip to do this,” Johnson said, standing with a hat and coat on in the windy (but mild for a Chicago Christmas Eve) weather. “My family was already there waiting for me, and they’re, like, ‘Oh, my God, you’re not coming?’ It meant a lot to me to be here and see her happy.”

Holding one of her several new dolls after the commotion calmed, Aubrey said her first thought when she saw the carriage was “my sister. Because I love her.”

Aubrey said she was most excited for her new Barbie. But she tossed Barbie aside and yelled “doll house!” when Santa pulled that toy out.

Johnson held Aubrey up near Money to pet her, but she jumped back — half startled and half laughing — when the horse whinnied.

Her toys packed up, Aubrey didn’t get to go to McDonald’s like she expected. But she got the next best thing: time with her family and a home-cooked meal at grandma’s house.

Plus, of course, her new toys to play with all night.

A carriage for Aubrey Broughton, sister of 7-year-old Serenity, who was fatally shot in August on the Northwest Side, makes its way to the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Early Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Broughton, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister Serenity was killed. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Aubrey Broughton, sister of 7-year-old Serenity, who was fatally shot in August in an alley on the Northwest Side, waves to Early Walker dressed as Santa Claus as he enters the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Broughton, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister was killed. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Aubrey Broughton, sister of 7-year-old Serenity, who was fatally shot in August in an alley on the Northwest Side, is carried by Early Walker dressed as Santa Claus on the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Broughton, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister was killed. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Aubrey Broughton, sister of 7-year-old Serenity, who was fatally shot in August on the Northwest Side, rides a carriage with her mom Danielle, her father Michael and Early Walker dressed as Santa Claus on the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Aubrey, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister Serenity was killed. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Early Walker dressed as Santa Claus surprises Aubrey Broughton, sister of 7-year-old Serenity, who was fatally shot in August in an alley on the Northwest Side, with Christmas gifts on the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Broughton, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister was shot. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Aubrey Broughton, sister of 7-year-old Serenity, who was fatally shot in August in an alley on the Northwest Side, smiles during a press conference after she was surprised with Christmas gifts on the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Early Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Broughton, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister was shot. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Aubrey Broughton laughs while holding a Christmas gift she was surprised with as her mom Danielle and her father Michael stand beside her on the parking lot of the 5th District Police Station in the Pullman neighborhood, Friday morning, Dec. 24, 2021. Police officials and Early Walker, founder of the organization “I’m Telling Don’t Shoot,” distributed Christmas gifts to Aubrey, who also had been shot in the chest and armpit when her sister Serenity was fatally shot in August on the Northwest Side. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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