11-year-old killed in home invasion day after man released from jail, Illinois suit says
Within a day of his release from jail, a man broke into a Chicago home and stabbed an 11-year-old to death and nearly killed the boy’s mother, an Illinois lawsuit said.
Crosetti Brand was released on parole from a 15-year prison sentence in October 2023 and started to threaten the boy’s mother, whom he had previously had a relationship with, according to the lawsuit and WFLD.
Despite being placed back in jail for violating his parole, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board authorized his release on March 12, 2024, according to the complaint. The following day, he broke into a home and killed 11-year-old Jayden Perkins and nearly killed the boy’s mother in front of her 5-year-old son, the lawsuit said.
Now, the family is suing the board, two former members, the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Chicago and Cook County. The lawsuit accuses authorities of allowing Brand to be released despite numerous warning signs.
The Illinois Prisoner Review Board, the Illinois Department of Corrections, the City of Chicago, Cook County and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit. Attorney information for the two former board members was not available.
“Every single Defendant in this case had the power — and the legal duty — to intervene and stop this tragedy,” the lawsuit said. “Each of them failed.”
Ahead of his release on parole, Brand threatened the mother in person, on social media and through text messages, the complaint said.
He also tried to break into her home on Feb. 1, 2024, the lawsuit said. He rang the door bell and pulled on the door handle, according to court documents. The lawsuit said this was a violation of his parole and protection order.
The mother reported this to Chicago police, but officers “refused to take a formal report documenting the incident,” the lawsuit said.
Brand turned himself in and was detained, according to the lawsuit, and was cited with parole violations.
He was held in Stateville Correctional Center and later appeared for a hearing in front of the parole board, the lawsuit said.
During the hearing, he denied that he visited the woman’s home and was granted release, according to the complaint. A judge also denied an emergency protection order because he was in custody, the lawsuit said.
On the morning of March 13, 2024, with a knife in hand, Brand broke into the woman’s home and stabbed her 11-year-old son to death and stabbed the woman multiple times, the lawsuit said.
The woman suffered “life-threatening injuries while desperately trying to defend her children,” the lawsuit said.
The family is seeking damages in addition to systematic reforms, the law firm representing the family, Otubusin & Otubusin, said in a March 13 news release.
Brand pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including first-degree murder, in April, WLS reported.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 1:08 PM with the headline "11-year-old killed in home invasion day after man released from jail, Illinois suit says."
