Police vehicle file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
The man accused of stabbing an 11-year-old to death and critically wounding the boy’s mother had just been released from prison a day earlier after a previous home invasion conviction and had allegedly sent the woman threatening text messages prior to the attack.
Crosetti Brand, 37, has been charged with numerous felonies including first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder following the fatal stabbing of 11-year-old Jaydone Perkins inside his mother’s Edgewater home early Wednesday.
According to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, Brand had just been paroled a day before the attack while serving a 16-year prison sentence stemming from a 2015 home invasion conviction.
“This is something that should have never happened,” he said while announcing the charges Friday.
Additional charges Brand now faces include three counts of home invasion involving a dangerous weapon, armed robbery, domestic battery, unlawful use of a weapon and violation of a court order.
According to police, Brand forced his way into the woman’s home, located in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood, where he fatally stabbed Perkins and stabbed the boy’s mother multiple times.
“The door opens up and he does what anyone would do if you see your family in danger, he tries to defend his mother,” 40th Ward Ald. Andre Vasquez said Friday.
Vasquez said Perkins was a popular student at Peirce Elementary and was a member of his local dance troupe. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide caused by a stab wound to the chest.
Perkins’ 5-year-old brother was also in the home and witnessed the attack, police said. He was not injured.
This is the second time Brand had been paroled, according to Snelling. Brand was released from prison last October, but was sent back after violating his parole in February after he allegedly threatened Perkins’ mother via text, police said. He was re-released on Tuesday and returned to the woman’s home the following day.
Investigators discovered surveillance video showing Brand running from the home after the attack while carrying a knife, according to Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti. That knife was later recovered by police.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said the woman had a lifetime order of protection in place against Brand, who she said had a history of domestic violence.
“This was not just a vicious and violent attack on an 11-year-old boy and his mother,” she said, “it was an assault on the very fabric of our community, targeting the most vulnerable among us.”
