Illinois Parole Board Members Resign After Outrage Over Releasing 11-Year-Old Killer

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – On March 25, Illinois Prisoner Review Board Donald Shelter and board member LeAnn Miller resigned after granting parole to Crosetti Brand, 37, who killed his ex-girlfriend’s son, Jayden Perkins, 11, 24 hours after his release.

On March 12, Miller approved Brand for parole from the Stateville Correctional Center, where he was serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted of aggravated assault and home invasion. Less than 24 hours later, on March 13, Brand allegedly ambushed his ex-girlfriend Laterria Smith, who is pregnant, and her son in the doorway of their Edgewater home. During the ambush, Brand stabbed Smith in the neck, wounding her, and then stabbed Perkins in the chest, killing him.

Brand’s release and the ambush came one month after Smith filed an order of protection against Brand. A hearing about the order, which both parties were expected to attend, was scheduled by a Cook County judge for March 13. Brand received notification about the hearing while he was in prison.

Despite the hearing for the order of protection, Miller still approved Brand for parole, with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and Illinois Department of Corrections claiming after the attack that they were unaware of the protection order hearing when they granted Brand parole. However, emails uncovered by CBS News show that as early as Feb. 22 the Department of Corrections was aware of the March 13 hearing.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced Miller and Shelton’s resignations following the report on the emails. In a statement, Pritzker said that he believed the two members “made the correct decision” by resigning. He added that “it is clear” that careful consideration was not given to the “evidence in this case.”

In October, Brand was granted parole but was re-arrested in February after he violated his parole by trying to break into Smith’s home and threatening a female via text, according to police.

Brand is facing a murder charge in connection with Perkin’s death, along with other charges, including violation of a protection order.