Illinois Parole Board Member Resigns After Violator Turns Deadly
Illinois parolee Crosetti Brand, 37, is back in prison after stabbing his former girlfriend and her son on March 13, 2024. Laterria Smith, 33, survived, but 11-year-old Jayden Perkins died. State Prisoner Review Board (PRB) member LeeAnn Miller, 63, who drafted Brand’s release order, promptly resigned, and Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D) called that “the correct decision.” But what really went wrong?
After assaulting another former partner in 2015, Brand was imprisoned and paroled in October 2023. He returned to prison after he violated a protection order by showing up at Smith’s Chicago home. But on February 26, 2024, Brand was back in front of PRB, denying he ever went there. There was also no evidence presented that police or any PRB staffer had contacted Smith. Absent that, PRB members Ken Tupy and Krystal Tyson joined Miller in dismissing the harassment allegations for insufficient evidence, and the prisoner was released.
Just over two weeks later, Brand returned to Smith’s home with a knife and stabbed the pregnant mom, as well as her son when he tried to intervene. The child died. Smith and her unborn child survived. A six-year-old also home at the time was not injured.
Pritzker said it was “clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve.” He didn’t mention the failure to collect evidence from Smith for PRB to consider. Instead he ordered the state Department of Corrections to share information with the board about prisoners convicted of domestic violence before they are paroled. He also called for “experts and advocates to design and implement expanded training” for PRB’s 15 members.
Source: WICS/WICD
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