Bond Court Proffer

DEFENDANT 1: SIMONE AUSTIN, 27 year old Female

Charges: DEFENDANT 1: First Degree Murder
Date/Time: 9/26/20 @ 9:18 a.m.
Location: 3244 W. Fulton, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Victim 1 – Serenity Arrington, 5 year old deceased female
The people expect the evidence to Show
D-Austin is the mother of V1-Serenity Arrington, a 5 year old
girl, and W1, Serenity’s 8 year old older sister. W2 is D-Austin’s
father and grandfather to V1 and W1. Approximately 2-3
weeks ago, Defendant and her daughters moved into W2’s
apartment, where he had been living alone.
On 9/26/2020, at approximately 9:15am, Defendant and both
of her daughters were in her room. Defendant asked W1, the 8
year old, to leave the room. W1 looked through the hole for the
door knob and saw her mom, the Defendant, pull out a serrated
knife from under a pillow and then cut V1 Serenity’s throat
with it. W1 screamed out as she saw the knife in her Mom’s
hand. W1 opened the door and saw the Defendant stabbing her
little sister. The Defendant was on top of V1. W1 heard her
sister begging for D to stop and saying that she was sorry. W1
attempted to pull the Defendant off of her sister by her hair.
W1 then called for her grandfather, W2.
Earlier that morning, W2 was hanging out with his friends and
the Defendant on the front porch. He had left to get coffee with
one of his friends, and returned to find the front door locked.
The Defendant let him in, and W2 went into the kitchen in the
back. Within minutes he heard his granddaughter, W1,
screaming that Mommy stabbed her little sister. W2 looked
inside Defendant's room and saw the Defendant undressing V1
Serenity. V1 was bleeding. W2 immediately went out to the
porch and called 911 from his friend’s phone, and told
neighbors to call 911.
W1 then ran out into the street yelling that her mommy killed
her little sister. Defendant then walked out of the apartment
with Serenity’s limp, bloody, naked body, and laid V down in
the grassy area next to the sidewalk. Neighbors across the
street saw this. Additionally, a neighbor and friend of W2, was
riding his bicycle down the street. He saw Serenity on the
ground and the Defendant kneeling by her feet, tapping on
Serenity’s feet. Serenity was bleeding profusely from a gash in
her throat. The friend approached and asked the Defendant
what was going on. The Defendant apologized and stated she
shouldn’t have done this. She had blood on her face and shirt.
W2 was on the porch telling neighbors to lock the Defendant
up and that she stabbed his granddaughter.

CFD and EMS arrived just as the friend was urging Defendant
to help stop Serenity’s bleeding. Defendant told emergency
personnel that she did it and that she was sorry. The Defendant
was subsequently placed in custody. The knife was recovered
in Defendant’s room. V was transported to the hospital with a
laceration to the neck and pronounced deceased. The Medical
Examiner determined the Cause of Death to be multiple incise
wounds to the neck and one to the shoulder. One of the
wounds to the neck was almost fully through to the back of the
neck.
W1 provided the details of what happened during a recorded
VSI. In that recorded statement she also talked about seeing
her Mom with the knife on a previous incident where she was
walking around with the knife scaring W1 and V1. The
Defendant did that because W1 said that they had spilled some
eggs on the porch. W1 continued to say that she knew that
something was going to happen because the Defendant was
walking around with the knife and you never know what can
happen.