Parole official quits after OK'ing release of felon who then allegedly stabbed ex-girlfriend, killed her son
Chicago police work the scene in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue where an 11-year-old boy was killed and his mother was stabbed on March 13.
Patricia Nabong/Sun-Times
A state parole official has resigned after approving the release of a convicted felon who allegedly stabbed a former girlfriend and killed her 11-year-old son just a day after leaving prison.
The resignation was announced Monday morning by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who didn’t say why LeAnn Miller had chosen to step down from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
But the governor indicated Miller played a key role in a flawed decision to release Crosetti Brand on parole, noting that she conducted the hearing and “prepared a draft order provided to a panel of two additional members for concurrence.”
Pritzker said she ultimately made “the correct decision in stepping down.”
“It is clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve, and I am committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,” Pritzker said in a statement.
The board had no immediate comment.
Amanda Pyron, executive director of the Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, said she hoped the resignation "marks the beginning of systemic accountability in this case. It is clear from the review of events that many actors failed to take the necessary steps to safeguard this family. We hope this leads to broader accountability and investments in a safety net built through increasing supportive services."
Brand, 37, allegedly forced his way into the woman’s apartment in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue and repeatedly stabbed her on the morning of March 13, prosecutors have said.
The woman’s son, Jayden Perkins, “attempted numerous times to help his mother” and was stabbed to death, they said.
In the ensuing days and weeks, officials have struggled to explain why the woman’s calls for help apparently went unanswered.
She had been notified when Brand was released on parole last October after he served eight years of a 16-year sentence for attacking another ex-partner and pointing a gun at her son in 2015.
Prosecutors said the woman was informed because she was the victim in previous domestic violence cases against him, including repeated violations of protection orders.
When Brand allegedly arrived at her home on Feb. 1, she quickly reported that he “was presently at her door stalking her,” according to a parole violation report obtained through a public records request.
A parole official followed up, and she told him that Brand “was at her address ringing the door bell and pulling on the door handle,” the report states.
Brand initially admitted that he was at her home but claimed he was merely looking for an apartment.
He turned himself in that day and was sent to the Stateville Correctional Center and cited for a series of alleged parole violations, including coming into contact with the woman.
Within weeks, the prisoner review board decided to release him again — after Brand changed his story and denied going to her home.
During a Feb. 26 board hearing, Brand and his attorney said there was no evidence that he traveled to her home, according to the order prepared by Miller.
Brand, who was on electronic monitoring at the time, insisted that “GPS would have picked up on it, and it didn’t” — an account the order indicated was backed up by data from a parolee tracking system.
The woman wasn’t called to testify before the board, which determined there wasn’t enough evidence to corroborate her claims.
Days earlier, she had appeared before a Cook County judge and asked for an emergency order of protection, saying Brand had threatened her in text messages and had come to her home, according to a transcript of the Feb. 21 hearing.
She told Judge Thomas Nowinski that Brand sent the text messages on Jan. 30 and came to her apartment on Feb. 1. She said police wouldn’t take a report and instead directed her to get an order of protection.
While officials have said the woman already had an active order of protection, she told Nowinski that she didn’t.
Because Brand was locked up, Nowinski ruled that the woman’s case didn’t amount to an emergency and set a hearing for March 13 — the morning of the attack and just a day after Brand was released.
In his statement Monday, Pritzker said he has asked the prisoner review board to work with experts and advocates to overhaul training for cases involving domestic violence.
The governor also pushed the board and the Illinois Department of Corrections to review “rules and procedures for receiving information" about those cases "to determine whether changes are necessary.”
“My thoughts are with [the woman who was stabbed] as she recovers and with the entire family of Jayden Perkins as we mourn this tragic loss,” Pritzker said. “May his memory be a blessing.”