The 11-year-old boy was stabbed to death while trying to protect his pregnant mother, Laterria Smith. The man accused in the attack had just been paroled.
With love in their hearts and beauty in their steps friends of Perkins at his North Side dance school honored him Thursday in the way he knew best. Exactly one year later, Perkins' death still leaves loved-ones with immeasurable pain.
"It's hard," Smith said. "He was only 11 years old, just trying to protect his mom."
Smith is now filing a lawsuit, alleging her son's death was "entirely preventable." She is suing the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and other agencies for granting parole last March to Crosetti Brand.
One day later, Brand allegedly stabbed Perkins to death and wounded Smith during a knife attack at her Edgewater home.
"I'm taking this action because there has to be a change," Smith said. "I feel like it was pure negligence, like as if they didn't care at all because they allowed the person free without even contacting me or notifying me."
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The lawsuit alleges the parole board disregarded "overwhelming evidence" that he posed an immediate danger to Smith, including a "history of domestic violence" and "repeated violations of protective orders." In fact, Brand had been in prison for a series of alleged parole violations, including showing up at Smith's door.
"It was incumbent upon the board to at least visit that issue to see is there an active order of protection against him?" Smith's attorney Paul Otubusin. "Is there any reason why we should not release him? All those investigations were not done."
After Perkins' death, two members of the Prisoner Review Board resigned and Governor JB Pritzker appointed a new executive director, but the lawsuit seeks more changes to the system.
"We are hoping that a new director will be implementing some policies that we don't know of, but those policies have not been publicized for the public to know," Otubusin said.
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At Gus Giordano Dance School, a mural was unveiled in Perkins' honor, celebrating his talent and the light he brought to others.
"He loved to dance... and I missing doing those things with him," Smith said.