Statements made by murdered boy's younger brother can be used at trial: judge

Cook County prosecutors will be allowed to introduce statements made by Jayden Perkins' younger brother hours after the 11-year-old boy was brutally stabbed, a judge ruled Monday, introducing into the trial that the 5-year-old said to a child. plea interviewer, mother's ex-boyfriend 'savaged' her mother and brother.

The videotaped interview captured the boy's heartbreaking statements the day his brother was killed and his pregnant mother was seriously injured in their Edgewater apartment, according to court filings, offering more details about the attack which sparked sympathy and outrage from the family and raised questions about the handling of domestic violence cases. The alleged attacker was released from prison just a day before the murder.

Crosetti Brand, 37, an ex-boyfriend who had a documented history of violence against Jayden's mother and other women, is charged with murder, attempted murder and other crimes in the March attack which he allegedly committed weeks after going to the family home and threatening Jayden. mother.

“I loved him so much…I was crying,” the boy said of his older brother during the interview, according to court documents.

Family members gathered in the courtroom at Leighton Criminal Court for the hearing, which took place under tight security. They sometimes became emotional upon hearing the boy's words and Brand's arguments, as he represented himself.

Brand, acting as his own attorney, has expedited the proceedings, as he seeks a quick trial date as early as this summer.

Prosecutors sought to admit the interview given by the 5-year-old boy, called KM in the documents, to a forensic investigator at the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center, arguing that it met standards for exceptions to the overhearing rules. say which generally prohibit the use of out-of-court witness statements.

Judge Angela Petrone agreed, finding the statements are reliable enough to be admissible at trial. Petrone said the timing of the boy's statement on the same day as the killing and the high pitch of his voice are considered a “long-excited statement.”

“My brother was so nice to me,” Petrone said, reading the younger boy’s feelings.

At the boy's words, some family members in the courtroom gallery burst into tears.

Brand had objected to the use of this statement, arguing that a video could not be cross-examined and that the boy's statements could have been influenced by family members.

On March 13, prosecutors said, Jayden's mother was on the phone with his mother as she helped her two sons get ready for school. As she unlocked her door to leave, Brand forced his way inside and attacked her in the apartment in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue, according to prosecutors.

Jayden “repeatedly attempted to help his mother” and was stabbed in the process, prosecutors said at a detention hearing earlier this year. His younger brother was on the couch during the attack.

Around 4:48 p.m. later that day, the younger brother sat with the interviewer in a room equipped with two chairs, a table and a one-way mirror, according to court documents. The interview ended around 5:14 p.m.

“I was at school today…my mom got a text from him…my mom's ex-boyfriend…my mom was opening a door and she saw him…he savaged, stabbed my mother and my brother with a knife,” he said, according to court documents. “There was blood everywhere.”

In handing in his order, Petrone noted that the boy spoke in long, spontaneous statements without often needing to be probed with questions. She read parts of the boy's statements and said the chaos of the day and the speed of the interview left little time for the boy to be supervised by family members.

The youngest boy told the interviewer that his mother grabbed his ankle and told him to “call daddy.”

The boy described what he said Brand was wearing: all black with a black mask, according to the documents. He said Brand didn't say anything to his mother and brother and later saw him running out.

The case received scrutiny from the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which made the decision to release Brand the day before the alleged attack on Jayden and his mother.

After serving prison time for an assault on another woman in 2015, Brand was released from prison in October, according to court records. A few months later, on Jan. 30, Brand sent Jayden's mother a text message threatening her and her family, then showed up at her apartment on Feb. 1, according to prosecutors and court records.

He rang the doorbell several times and tried to remove the door handle. The woman contacted the parole board and he was sent back to prison, according to prosecutors. He was released about six weeks later.

The state's top parole official and another board member resigned following the attack, and Gov. JB Pritzker created a new position on the executive review committee with a mandate to Expand domestic violence training to board members.

In court filings, prosecutors detailed a significant history of violence against women for Brand, including instances dating back nearly two decades of violence against Jayden's mother.

Brand racked up multiple convictions for beating her, threatening her and her mother, and violating protective orders, according to court records. The two men were a couple more than 15 years ago.

In 2013, Brand pleaded guilty to domestic battery charges for hitting another woman, who had recently ended a relationship with him, hard enough to knock her unconscious and leave her mouth bleeding.

He later was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a November 2015 assault on a third woman, who had recently ended her relationship with him, according to court documents. He also threatened his son when he tried to intervene.

Jayden was a passionate dancer with a strong work ethic, friends said after his death.

“He was a much-loved child,” said a friend’s mother. “Always happy, always smiling.”