More than two years after a Metra police officer was shot near a Harvey Metra station, his family got to see a man charged with his murder in court.

The charges against Jeremy Lloyd, 20, of Gary, identify him as one of the men who committed the murder. According to police he was not the one who pulled the trigger, he was the "lookout" person.

But for the family of Thomas Cook, Monday's action provides some closure, his widow, Pam Cook, said.

"It gives me hope that this will be solved, and a little bit of closure for the family, that they can put it to rest a little," she said.

Cook, a 43-year-old Dyer resident and a former Riverdale police officer, was working a security detail on Sept. 27, 2006, when he was shot and killed in his squad car in a vacant lot near 147th and Clinton streets in Harvey.

A Cook County judge on Monday denied bond for Lloyd, who is scheduled to appear Feb. 2 in Cook County court for a preliminary hearing on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of armed robbery. Lloyd is being held in the Cook County Jail on unrelated charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Investigators from the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force led the investigation into Cook's slaying. It wasn't one key piece of evidence that suddenly broke the case, but a matter of the task force building the case over time, Riverdale police Sgt. Rich Graziano said.

"We had the information," he said. "It was just a matter of putting it all together, and it's an open investigation. We kept going and going until we had enough of what we needed (for) the state's attorney's office to approve the charges."

Metra had offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case.

"The reward money, at this point, nobody is eligible for that," Graziano said. "It is still pending though."

Pam and Tom Cook have two children, Jimmy and Jessica.

According to Pam Cook, her children didn't understand why their mother went to court Monday but were happy when she came home and told them things went well.

She praised the task force for its work on the two-year investigation.

"I know it takes time," Cook said. "I know you have to sit and wait for it. My faith was always in them. ... These officers are giving 110 percent."

The family is happy that someone was charged, Bob Cook, Tom Cook's brother, said at a news conference at the Riverdale police station.

"Sometimes the wheels of justice have a tendency to move on the slow side, but we didn't give up hope," he said.

He and other family members also attended the bond hearing Monday. Some wore buttons in loving memory of Cook. Bob Cook said it was important for the family to be together "in solidarity" in the room.

During the hearing before Cook County Judge Darren Bowden, prosecutors accused Lloyd of planning and participating in the shooting with others, according to the news release. Lloyd told at least one person to watch the news regarding a police officer being shot, prosecutors told the judge.

A witness also saw Lloyd running away from the squad car after Cook was executed, prosecutors said.

Lloyd and "Individual A" were involved in a shootout and had lost their guns, prosecutors said. The two met "Individual B" and discussed committing the crime while they walked down the alleys toward where Cook was parked, the prosecutor said.

"While walking, they discussed the need (to get guns) and the fact they could get a gun from a Metra police officer," he said. " 'Individual A' raised his arm and shot into the head of Cook."

Police recovered the gun in Robbins, the prosecutor said. A witness also will testify that Lloyd traded a black handgun for another gun a short time after the shooting, he said.

Lloyd is the father of a 4-year-old daughter, his defense attorney said in court.

"He attended Thornton High School until 11th grade and maintains his innocence," she said.

Times staff writers Vanessa Renderman and Chris Keller contributed to this report.