IL: Mom whose son was murdered by prisoner released day before can’t sue

CHICAGO - Illinois state officials, the city of Chicago and Cook County's sheriff have all asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit brought by the mother of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins, who was killed in an attack by his mother's ex-boyfriend, as they argue they cannot be held legally responsible for releasing the accused murderer from prison early or doing enough to protect the woman and her children.

On July 14, lawyers representing the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Chicago City Hall and its police department, and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart all filed separate motions to dismiss the lawsuit brought by plaintiff Laterria Smith.

Those motions were all preceded last week by an open letter issued by Smith to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, calling on the governor, widely lauded by social justice advocates for Illinois' controversial criminal justice reforms, to enter the legal fray on her behalf and "settle this case instead of fighting us."

In the July 9 letter to Pritzker, Smith said she was issuing a "call to your conscience" and "to your humanity," as she asked him to "tell your lawyers and agencies to settle this case instead of fighting us."

She particularly criticized Pritzker and other Illinois state officials and lawmakers who have used her son's death to score political points, but she said are now also fighting to prevent the boy's family from finding healing through the justice system.

"I trusted the system. I tried everything I could to keep my family safe. But the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff, the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the Illinois Prisoner Review Board all failed us," Smith wrote in the letter to Pritzker. "... Their failures cost Jayden his life."

Smith filed her lawsuit in March, accusing the government agencies over the death of Jayden Perkins. The 11-year-old boy was stabbed to death in front of his five-year-old brother while attempting to defend his pregnant mother against a murderous attack by her ex-boyfriend, Crosetti Brand.

Brand has been charged with first-degree murder and other charges related to his attack on Smith and her children in their home in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood in March 2024.

The attack came just one day after the Illinois Prisoner Review Board had ordered Brand released from prison.

Brand was serving a 16 year prison sentence on convictions related to home invasion and aggravated assault. He had been paroled in October 2023.

However, police had taken him back into custody in February 2024, after Smith told police Brand had sent her threatening text messages and allegedly attempted to force his way into the apartment Smith shared with her two children, Perkins and then-five-year-old Kameron Miles.

According to court documents, when Brand was later confronted by a parole officer about Smith's accusations, Brand allegedly lied, telling officers he was merely looking for an apartment.

However, he was taken back to Stateville Correctional Center on multiple parole violations.

According to court documents, Smith told both police and a Cook County judge of Brand's threats against her.

However, on March 12, the IPRB nonetheless released Brand from custody after a hearing.

According to court documents, Brand reportedly again lied at the IPRB hearing about going to Smith's home. And according to court documents, the IPRB reportedly "accepted his version of events," never following up on Smith's allegations against him, including declining to ask Smith to testify and tell her account of the events.

The very next day, on March 13, 2024, Brand returned to Smith's apartment, forced his way into the home with a knife, "launching a brutal and premeditated attack that should have never been allowed to happen," the complaint said.

The lawsuit had been filed in Cook County Circuit Court. However, the government agencies removed the case to Chicago federal court, where it became apparent they intended to seek to dismiss Smith's legal action.

In an apparent bid to forestall at least the state agencies' move to dismiss, Smith released her letter to Pritzker.

Five days later, the Illinois Attorney General's office and attorneys on behalf of the city and Cook County Sheriff's Office all filed motions to dismiss Smith's lawsuit.

In the motions, all of the government agencies asserted they are protected by immunity under the law from Smith's actions and attempt to make them pay for releasing Brand from prison and allowing him to attack Smith's family and murder Perkins.

In the motion to dismiss the claims against the Pritzker-appointed IPRB, lawyers from the office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the law has long treated the IPRB similarly to judges, who enjoy absolute legal immunity for official actions.

Similarly, the IPRB argued it can't be held responsible for actions taken by Brand or other criminals it releases from custody. They said Smith can't show the decision to release Brand "caused him to attack" Smith's family.

Smith "cannot establish that the Board Members exhibited conscience-shocking behavior by performing their duties as IPRB members," the IPRB wrote in a memorandum explaining its motion to dismiss. "Indeed, the Board Members were fulfilling their obligations to afford due process to all incarcerated individuals, far from 'conscience-shocking' behavior."

In a separate motion to dismiss, the city of Chicago said it also couldn't be sued, because police had no duty to arrest Brand when he visited Smith's home on Feb. 1, 2024.

They further asserted in the motion that, contrary to Smith's claims in her lawsuit, she held no active order of protection against Brand that could have triggered greater action by police who responded to her home on that date. They further asserted cameras worn by the officers responding to her call on Feb. 1, 2024, contradict Smith's version of the events and the police response that day.

"Here, Plaintiffs essentially allege that had the officers on February 1, 2024 arrested Brand, the incident on March 13, 2024 would not have happened," the city wrote. "Not only is that unsupported speculation that need not be accepted, but this causal connection has a fatal flaw: Plaintiffs also allege that Brand was picked up on a parole violation and sent back to prison, only to be released due to inaccurate testimony in front of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

"... While the City acknowledges this incident is a tragedy, there is simply no basis in law or fact for the claims alleged against it," the city attorneys wrote.

A judge has not yet ruled on the motions to dismiss, and Smith's attorneys have not yet replied to the motions in court.

Smith, however, has continued her public campaign in support of her legal action.

Following Perkins' murder and the public outcry that followed, IPRB Chairman Donald Shelton resigned from the board, along with IPRB member LeAnn Miller, who had presided over the hearing that resulted in Brand's release.

All of the current members of the IPRB have been appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Miller was appointed by Pritzker in 2021. Miller's appointment won confirmation from the Illinois State Senate despite concerns raised by some Republican state senators over Miller's backing of the release from prison of a woman who had killed her infant daughters in the 1980s.

Shelton,a former longtime Champaign Police Officer, had served on the IPRB since 2012, when he was appointed by former Gov. Pat Quinn. Pritzker had reappointed Shelton to the IPRB as recently as 2023.

Pritzker and all other prominent Illinois Democrats have been staunch supporters of criminal justice reforms focused on reducing the effects of so-called systemic racism, in part by reducing the number of black individuals and other racial minorities in prison, offering those facing and convicted of criminal charges greater opportunities to avoid lengthy incarceration and reintegrate into society.

Following Perkins' death, Pritzker placed the blame for the boy's murder on Miller and the IPRB, saying Miller and Shelton made the correct decisions to resign.

"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 issued March 25, 2024. "My thoughts are with Laterria Smith as she recovers and with the entire family of Jayden Perkins as we mourn this tragic loss - may his memory be a blessing."

In her letter, however, Smith said statements of sympathy from the governor and new laws in his name are not enough to allow her family the opportunity to "heal."

Since her son's death, Smith said: "... I keep seeing Jayden’s name in the headlines. Elected officials talk about new laws they passed because of what happened to him. I’m grateful the State is trying to make things better for other families. But while they talk about change, my family is still waiting for justice.

"We filed a lawsuit against the agencies that failed us. But while those same officials talk about how Jayden’s death led to change, they’re fighting us in court. Now they’re trying to get our case thrown out, saying they had no duty to protect me or my kids. If these agencies aren’t here to protect families like mine, what are they even for?

"And even after all this, your administration is praising itself for the reforms passed in Jayden’s name. There’s something deeply wrong with that," Smith said.

"... If this tragedy was enough to change the law, why isn’t it enough for the State to take responsibility?" she wrote.

Smith is represented by attorneys Cozette A. Otubusin and Paul O. Otubusin, of the firm of Otubusin & Otubusin, of Chicago.