Story highlights Cousin says family is happy to hear of arrests but still grieving loss 
 
 Two men charged in case will appear in court on Tuesday morning 
 
 Police say they didn't recover weapon when arresting suspects 
 
 Hadiya Pendleton was shot to death a week after she performed in Washington 
 
 The teenager who police say shot and killed Chicago honor student Hadiya Pendleton was on probation for unlawful use of a firearm, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Monday night. 
 
 Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, were each charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, McCarthy told reporters. They were also charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. 
 
 They will make their first appearance in court on Tuesday morning. 
 
 Ward confessed to shooting Hadiya and two others in late January in a case of mistaken identity, McCarthy said. 
 
 Police said Ward and Williams were gang members seeking revenge against the people who had shot Williams in July -- men against whom Williams had refused to press charges when police arrested them. 
 
 He and Ward thought they had spotted members of a rival gang at the park when police said Ward sneaked up on Hadiya and her friends and began shooting. Williams was the getaway driver, the superintendent said. 
 
 McCarthy said Ward was sentenced to two years' probation in January 2012 for unlawful use of a firearm. 
 
 "This has to stop. Gun offenders have to do significant jail time," McCarthy said. "Criminals have to be held accountable. And there has to be a certainty of punishment when we arrest somebody with an illegal firearm." 
 
 The charges come 12 days after Hadiya was shot to death at a park in what her godfather, Damon Stuart, described as an "ideal community" on Chicago's South Side. 
 
 Police said that there were no substantive tips as to the shooter's identity, but once they had a description of the car, they linked it to a traffic stop that occurred several days before the killing. 
 
 That description and interviews with parolees led them to Ward and Williams. 
 
 McCarthy said Ward surrendered on Saturday night without a struggle, but Williams tried to escape. No weapon was recovered, he said. 
 
 Hadiya's was killed a week after she performed at one of the events surrounding Obama's second inauguration. 
 
 Shatira Wilks, one of Hadiya's cousins, said the family was elated that the suspects were in jail. 
 
 "However there is no level of comfort -- not long-term comfort -- and we are still miserable," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "(Hadiya) is the face of every parent's dream child. Hadiya had so many different things awaiting her in life. She was a wonderful, wonderful kid. My little cousin really was an angel." 
 
 She said Hadiya was hanging out with a volleyball team -- a group of girls and one boy -- when she was killed. 
 
 The killing -- which occurred in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood near the Obamas' Chicago home -- drew the first couple's attention. 
 
 Hadiya's parents are in Washington to attend the State of the Union address, McCarthy said. 
 
 Hadiya, who often urged friends to stay away from gangs, was an honor student and band majorette at King College Prep School. 
 
 Her slaying -- the 42nd in the city this year -- also highlighted the problem of gun violence in Chicago. More than 500 people were fatally shot in 2012. 
 
 McCarthy reiterated his call for minimum sentences for gun crimes and mandatory background checks. 
 
 "Michael Ward would not have been on the street of New York City to commit this act," the impassioned superintendent said. "This is not about gun control. This is about the criminal justice system being designed to prevent gun violence." 
 
 Huge gaps in that system must be closed, he said, mentioning sentencing guidelines and universal background checks for gun buyers. 
 
 "But in my book, one of the bigger things is (a) requirement to report the loss, theft or transfer of firearms," he said. 
 
 He hoped Hadiya's case would be a turning point in the gun laws debate, and he apologized for his rant. 
 
 "I get a little emotional," he said. "Because it's true." 

 FILE - This undated file family photo provided by Damon Stewart shows 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton of Chicago who was was shot Jan. 29, 2013 while she talked with friends in a park about a mile from President... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This undated file family photo provided by Damon Stewart shows 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton of Chicago who was was shot Jan. 29, 2013 while she talked with friends in a park about a mile from President... (Associated Press) 
 
 Two men were charged with murder Monday in the death of a 15-year-old Chicago honor student who was shot just days after returning from Washington, where she performed during President Barack Obama's inauguration festivities. 
 
 The two young men, ages 18 and 20, were described by police as "persons of interest" when they were taken into custody early Sunday, a day after first lady Michelle Obama and other dignitaries attended the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. 
 
 Chicago police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said late Monday that both young men are now charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Their names haven't been released. 
 
 Pendleton, a popular high school majorette, was with a group of friends who took cover during a rainstorm under a canopy in a park about a mile from the Obama home on the city's South Side. Police said a man hopped a fence, ran toward them and opened fire with a handgun. 
 
 Pendleton was struck in the back and died later that day. Two others were injured. 
 
 Police have said none of the people in Pendleton's group were affiliated with gangs but that the gunman apparently mistook one for a member of a rival gang that had encroached on his gang's turf. 
 
 Pendleton's death was one of more than 40 homicides in Chicago in January, a total that made it the deadliest January in the city in more than a decade. 
 
 But it was her background, her ties to the president's inauguration and the location of the park that thrust her death into the national headlines and put Chicago at the center of a national debate over gun control. 
 
 Not only did the first lady attend the teen's funeral, but the girl's parents were set to sit with Michelle Obama during the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Obama is scheduled to return to Chicago three days later to discuss gun violence.
– Two men were charged with murder today in the death of a 15-year-old Chicago honor student who was shot just days after returning from Washington, where she performed during President Barack Obama's inauguration festivities. The two young men, ages 18 and 20, were described by police as "persons of interest" when they were taken into custody early yesterday, a day after first lady Michelle Obama and other dignitaries attended the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. CNN reports that the suspects are gang members. Chicago police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said late today that both young men are now charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, and aggravated battery with a firearm. Their names haven't been released. Pendleton, a popular high school majorette, was with a group of friends who took cover during a rainstorm under a canopy in a park about a mile from the Obama home on the city's South Side. Police said a man hopped a fence, ran toward them, and opened fire with a handgun. Pendleton was struck in the back and died later that day. Two others were injured. Click for more.