Lawsuit blames authorities for deadly Chicago home invasion

CHICAGO - A lawsuit has been filed after a deadly home invasion in Chicago in 2024 that left an 11-year-old boy dead and his pregnant mother critically injured.

What we know:

The law firm of Otubusin & Otubusin announced the suit last week on behalf of Laterria Smith and her son, Jayden Perkins, who were violently attacked in their Edgewater home on March 13, 2024 by 37-year-old Crosetti Brand, a convicted felon.

The suit claims that multiple state and local agencies including the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Chicago Police Department, and the Cook County Sheriff's Department failed to enforce protective orders against Brand despite repeated violations and threats, which resulted in the deadly assault.

Crosetti Brand | Chicago police

"Crosetti Brand, a parolee with a well-known history of violent crime, was improperly released and unsupervised, leading to his brutal attack on Laterria Smith and the murder of her young son, Jayden, who heroically tried to protect his mother," a statement from the law firm said.

The suit seeks "compensatory damages" in addition to systemic changes in how parolees and protective orders are managed to help ensure a similar event does not happen again.

The backstory:

Brand is charged with a slew of crimes including first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder for the vicious attack that took place in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue. He pleaded not guilty on April 22, 2024, to 17 charges stemming from the assault.

Brand fatally stabbed Perkins as he came to the aid of his mother, who was also stabbed, police say. The knife wound severed a major artery and the boy bled to death. Perkins’ brother Kameron Miles, who was 5-years-old at the time, witnessed the attack on his family, but was unharmed.

Police say video shows Brand running away from the scene while holding the knife that was used in the attack.

"An innocent child's life was taken as he tried to protect his mother, far too soon," former Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said. "A mother was attacked in what should have been the safest place for her, which was her home."

Police said Smith was getting her boys ready for school at around 8 a.m. when Brand burst into the house and carried out his attack. Smith was able to lock herself into a bedroom and Brand left after kicking at the door, prosecutors said.

He has a long criminal record for domestic violence and violating orders of protection.

Brand had a prior relationship with Smith more than 15 years ago and was serving a 16-year sentence for home invasion and aggravated assault when he was paroled and placed on electronic monitoring in October, police said.

While Brand was on parole, he threatened the victim through text messages and also showed up at her home despite her having a lifetime order of protection against him.

He was sent back to prison in February for violating his parole and was released from the Stateville Correctional Center with electronic monitoring on March 12 having served about seven years, police say. It is unclear why he was let out early again.

He was arrested hours after the stabbing.

"Along with being brutally attacked, stabbed multiple times, dealing with that trauma, [the mother] has to face the fact that she will never see, touch, hug her 11-year-old son. She's lost him forever," Chicago Police Department Supt. Larry Snelling said.

In 2015, Brand attacked the same woman just four days after she broke off their dating relationship, according to court records.

What they're saying:

"This lawsuit is not just about securing justice for Laterria and her deceased son but about highlighting and correcting the profound systemic failures that allowed this tragedy to occur," said Dr. Paul O. Otubusin, partner at Otubusin & Otubusin. "We must prevent such neglect from ever happening again to protect innocent lives from like Kameron's, who will carry the emotional scars of this event forever."

READ THE LAWSUIT

Dig deeper:

The law firm of Otubusin & Otubusin provided a copy of the complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, which they say details a series of "systemic failures" by multiple state and local agencies that contribute to the death of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins and the severe assault of his mother, Laterria Smith, on March 13, 2024.