At just 11-years-old, Jayden Perkins was brave and strong, prosecutors said Thursday, but he was “absolutely no match” for the grown man who rushed at his mother and stabbed her repeatedly.
In a tense courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, prosecutors began their closing arguments to the jury after a more than three-week trial that involved more than 30 witnesses and some 300 exhibits. Crosetti Brand, 39, is charged with murder, attempted murder, home invasion and aggravated domestic battery, accused of killing Jayden as he tried to protect his pregnant mother, Laterria Smith.
“If I can’t have you no one can,” Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Gersch said. “Those are the terrifying words told to Laterria Smith by this defendant as he invaded her home, shoving open her front door and stabbing her over and over and over.”
The case went to trial at lightning speed for a county with a criminal court system that often moves sluggishly, going before a jury just a little over a year after the March 13, 2024 attack in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue in Edgewater. On Thursday, the arguments unfolded before a packed room that included family members, detectives and Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke.
The trial and its lead-up has taken place under emotionally-charged conditions, with relatives at times reacting to the often gutting evidence by yelling at Brand, even attempting to lunge at him. Cook County Judge Angela Petrone has repeatedly warned those watching in the gallery against audible reactions, and has staffed her courtroom with additional security.
As the state on Thursday summed up the brutal details that made up their case, a relative walked out of the courtroom with a loud scream, causing Petrone to tell the jury to ignore the outburst.
Brand, who decided to defend himself rather than use a licensed attorney, argued that he was defending himself when Jayden was killed and his mother, Laterria Smith, was seriously injured. For more than four hours on Monday, Brand testified to the jury in a profanity-laced narrative, relaying an alternate version of the attack.
Prosecutors, though, said that Brand – just a day after he was released from prison – barged into Smith’s apartment after harassing her for weeks, stabbing Smith before turning the knife on Jayden when he tried to intervene. Smith’s 5-year-old son watched it unfold.
On the trial’s first day on May 12, Smith took the stand for hours, telling the jury that Brand, with whom she had recently rekindled a relationship with, harassed and threatened her in the weeks and months leading up to the attack.
When they began seeing each other again, Brand was recently released from prison after he served time for a November 2015 attack on another woman who had recently ended a relationship with him, according to court documents.
Smith said she tried to break it off as Brand grew more controlling, even showing up unwanted at her apartment. She contacted the parole board, and he was sent back to prison.
But the Prisoner Review Board ordered Brand’s release. The next day, prosecutors alleged, he returned to Smith’s apartment for the fatal attack.
“Just four hours after his release from prison, he was back at Laterria’s building waiting and waiting,” Gersch said. “He waited until he knew early on that weekday morning she would need to open that front door … not caring that her children were feet away watching horrified at what this defendant was doing to their mom.”
The controversial decision led to the resignation of two members and spurred Gov. JB Pritzker to create a new position on the board.
Last month, lawmakers also advanced a bill that would emphasize domestic violence awareness training for members of the state’s Prisoner Review Board.
Throughout the trial, jurors also heard from multiple detectives who described using surveillance video to track Brand’s journey away from Smith’s apartment, collecting the knife and clothes he tossed away.
Neighbors testified about the horror of coming across the bloody scene, and Smith’s mother told the jury about hearing the attack on the phone when it interrupted a normal morning phone call with her daughter.
After the state rested, Brand’s only witness was himself, spinning a different story for the jury.
Brand said he sought to make money by creating home-made adult videos and hiring himself out as a male escort. He said that Smith became jealous when she saw videos with other women, leading to a confrontation between the two during which he said he defended himself.
“She wound up seeing other sex videos with me with another female,” Brand said. “So we arguing.”
He said Smith stabbed Jayden accidentally when she tried to lunge at Brand.
Brand was combative when cross-examined by Hanichak, telling the prosecutor: “That’s not my testimony dude.”
“You wasn’t in that house was you?” Brand said. “I’m not going to let you mix up my testimony.”