Illinois Convict Released Early Murders 11-Year-Old Boy, State Sen. 'Disgusted' by Pritzker, Parole Board

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File

It’s another horrific, tragic story, the likes of which we’ve been seeing all too often these days. A convict serving a 16-year sentence for a home invasion and aggravated assault was released early in Illinois in early March, and the very next day, he invaded the Chicago apartment of Laterria Smith and stabbed her and her 11-year-old son, killing the boy.

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The brave youngster was trying to save his mother from the attack, and was stabbed in the chest.

The killer, Crosetti Brand, 37, who was previously in a relationship with Smith, was let loose on March 10. He was cut free even though he'd sent threatening texts to her in January and had a long rap sheet of domestic abuse. 

The chair of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Donald Shelter, and board member LeAnn Miller resigned in disgrace after the outcry against Brand’s release and the senseless death of the young boy. Miller was an appointee of Illinois' Democrat Governor JB Pritzker.

One Republican state senator has seen enough and is outraged by Gov. JB Pritzker and the Prison Review Board for their soft-on-crime policies.

"I'm sick to my stomach over it (the killing)," Republican Illinois state Sen. Jason Plummer told Fox News Digital. "I heard the news, and I was just disgusted." 

"The governor is the one doing this and this boy is dead," he added. "For the last three years, the governor of Illinois has taken a cavalier and reckless attitude towards the Prisoner Review Board and criminal justice in general."
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He placed the blame squarely at the feet of the progressive Pritzker:

"The governor is the one doing this and this boy is dead," he added. "For the last three years, the governor of Illinois has taken a cavalier and reckless attitude towards the Prisoner Review Board and criminal justice in general."

 He also posted an angry missive to Twitter/X:

Not only was Perkins a hero for trying to save his mother, he seems to have been a wonderful kid. He loved to dance:

Stories like this hurt the heart to write, to read, to process. I cannot for the life of me fathom what goes through the minds of leftists like Pritzker or criminal-loving District Attorneys like Los Angeles' George Gascón. How much more evidence do they need to see that their "soft-on-crime" policies just invite mayhem and that "criminal justice reform" simply isn't working? How many cities have to be brought to ruin, how many more senseless deaths will people have to suffer through before they get through their heads something that's obvious to most rational individuals: criminals must be treated like criminals. Crime must be punished. 

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It's quite sad, what's happening in America.

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