Suspect in deadly Edgewater stabbing of 11-year-old boy asks to represent himself

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Crosetti Brand appeared before a judge Wednesday and waived his right to council, saying he wants to represent himself at trial.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

Brand, 37, has been accused of killing 11-year old Jayden Perkins and attempting to kill his mother, who Perkins tried to protect. The stabbing attack happened last month in the Edgewater neighborhood.

Family members of the boy left court feeling let down by the system. They said their loved one is gone because Brand was let out of prison on parole despite Perkins' mother filing for an emergency order of protection before Brand's release.

"Violating that order of protection is a red flag that should not have been missed," Illinois state Senator Steve McClure said.

Several Republican state senators are pushing for reform of the Prisoner Review Board, which has seen two members resign amid the controversy of Brand's release.

"At the end of the day, it was the governor... Governor Pritzker's Prisoner Review Board that released Crosetti Brand despite overwhelming evidence he was dangerous to this family," Illinois state Senator John Curran said.

Senate Republicans say they want stepped up criminal penalties for violating a protection order. They want a requirement for appointees of the Prisoner Review Board to have served at least 20 cumulative years in the criminal justice system as a prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, judge, probation officer or public defender. They also want a public written notice within 24 hours of a prison release decision.

Governor Pritzker spoke earlier this week of the challenge to replace two members of the Prisoner Review Board.

"The more that people politicize the position, the less likely that it is that someone would want to serve in it, and as you know there have been people in the general assembly, typically the opposite party who have politicized this, so it makes it more difficult," Pritzker said.

The family of Jayden Perkins declined an interview after Brand's court hearing, but said anything that happens now is too late.

As Brand prepares to represent himself in defense of first-degree murder charges, he's due back in court April 9.