‘Jayden and mommy are dead’: Stepfather testifies in trial of man accused of attacking ex-girlfriend, killing son

CHICAGO (WGN) — Heart-wrenching testimony continued Tuesday in the murder trial of Crosetti Brand, the 39-year-old accused of viciously attacking his ex-girlfriend and killing her 11-year-old son.

Prosecutors say Jayden Perkins died while attempting to protect his then-pregnant mother.

Jurors on Tuesday heard from Kassidy Miles, who was engaged to Laterria Smith at the time of the March 13, 2024 attack. On the witness stand, Miles described the nightmarish video phone call he received at work from his 5-year-old son.

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“My son called, saying, ‘Come home!’ He told me, ‘Jayden and mommy are dead,'” Miles revealed.

“Show me what you’re talking about,” Miles told his traumatized son. The boy then panned the cell phone camera towards the lifeless body of older step-brother Jayden Perkins and their unconscious mother, Smith, in the family’s blood-soaked Edgewater apartment.

Miles said he rushed to the home turned crime scene in the 5900 block of N. Ravenswood, where Jayden Perkins was pronounced dead. The boy’s mother survived nearly a dozen stab wounds after emergency crews rushed her to a hospital in Evanston.

On the stand, Miles withstood direct cross-examination from the accused killer, much like Smith had endured a day earlier. Miles elected to defend himself in his own murder trial. 

“Were you aware of sexual relations that Laterria was having with other men?” Brand asked Miles, who fought, at times, to keep his composure.

“Objection!” prosecutors shouted back. 

“Sustained,” said presiding Cook County Circuit Court Judge Angela Patrone.

Judge Patrone affirmed that she would not permit disparaging and irrelevant questioning from the defendant, who, according to prosecutors, engaged in years of unceasing harassment and abuse, including beatings and threats, all directed at Smith.

Neighbor shares harrowing account

Lilliam Rodriguez also took the witness stand on Tuesday, describing how she heard her neighbor in distress in the morning of March 13, pushing open the door to Laterria Smith’s North Side apartment.

“The first face I saw,” Rodriguez testified, “was the little one, five or six years old. He was crying in shock.”

Rodriguez revealed that she then spotted the unresponsive Jayden Perkins on the floor, as well as his severely wounded mother.

“She walked to the door and asked for help. She was bleeding badly from the neck,” Rodriguez testified. “It was really bad, and I saw a little hole in her neck.”

Rodriguez said that she enlisted the help of a maintenance man while she called 911. 

Testimony continues Wednesday. The trial is expected to last two to three more weeks.

• The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at: 1-877-863-6338
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline is: 1-800-799-7233.