Kane County Reporter

In the wake of an 11-year-old boy's tragic death at the hands of a violent criminal released by Governor Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board, Andrew Sosnowski, a candidate for Kane County State's Attorney, has criticized Pritzker and Illinois Progressives for being "soft on crime". He further argued that their "radical ideology" is compromising the safety of Illinois communities. Sosnowski conveyed his statement to the Kane County Reporter on April 15.

"Saying Illinois' progressive lawmakers are soft on crime is an understatement," said Sosnowski. "We are the only state in the entire country where our progressive lawmakers are passing legislation that allows dangerous individuals to get out of custody prior to trial oftentimes leaving these decisions to uninformed State's Attorneys who put criminal justice reform over community safety. Governor Pritzker's Prisoner Review Board's most recent failure to protect an 11-year-old boy from being stabbed to death is a horrendous example of Illinois' failed progressive policies that are endangering our public safety. This is happening in our own suburban communities. Illinois' progressive lawmakers are incapable of keeping Kane County safe because they are too concerned with pandering to a far-left base."

According to Fox News, Crosetti Brand, who was serving a 16-year sentence for aggravated assault and home invasion, is charged with the murder of the young boy, Jayden Perkins. Brand was paroled and released from the Stateville Correctional Center when he allegedly forced his way into Laterria Smith's Chicago apartment and fatally stabbed her son. "The next morning, he forced his way into Laterria Smith's Chicago apartment and fatally stabbed her son, 11-year-old Jayden Perkins, as he came to the aid of his mother, who was also stabbed," said police.

Perkins' death garnered national media attention including a five-minute segment on CNN’s Newsnight program hosted by Abby D. Phillips. In this segment posted on Phillips’ Twitter account, she detailed Perkins’ life and circumstances leading to his untimely death. She described Perkins as "a beautiful eleven year old boy who had his entire life ahead of him", noting his love for dancing and playing with friends. After discussing details about the criminal responsible for Perkins’ death, Phillips stated: "the system failed Jayden; the adults who were supposed to protect him and his whole family failed."

State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is advocating for reforms to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. According to Center Square, Plummer expressed at a recent news conference that previous administrations were less likely to parole dangerous criminals. "Governor Pritzker's PRB is more than twice as likely to release someone from prison. We’re talking about people like the notorious Starved Rock killer, people like Paula Sims, multiple cop killers, child molesters and rapists," Plummer said.

According to Center Square, Republican leaders in the Illinois State Senate, including Minority Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove), are promoting legislation aimed at preventing similar tragedies. The proposed legislation stipulates that parole board members must have 20 years of experience working in the criminal justice system and undergo extensive training on domestic violence warning signs and outcomes. Curran stated: "Here we have the prisoner review board and Department of Corrections both complicit in the death of a child and the governor talks about the process being political. Please, that is nonsense. The governor needs to lead. We have had enough of his failures to run the agencies under his control."

WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky reported that "Illinois Democrats have in recent years been intentionally reticent to enhance penalties, as part of a broader restorative justice approach" to public safety.

An article published by the Illinois Policy Institute highlighted that Chicago had a higher number of homicides in 2023 than any other American city, including New York and Los Angeles - with 644 killings occurring across the city last year. The article also underscored that Chicago led the nation with 76 school-aged children killed within a single year.