Afternoon Briefing: Closing arguments underway in Crosetti Brand trial
Good afternoon, Chicago.
At just 11 years old, Jayden Perkins was brave and strong, prosecutors said today, but he was 'absolutely no match' for the grown man who rushed at his mother and stabbed her repeatedly.
In a tense courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, prosecutors began their closing arguments to the jury after a more than three-week trial that involved more than 30 witnesses and some 300 exhibits. Crosetti Brand, 39, is charged with murder, attempted murder, home invasion and aggravated domestic battery, accused of killing Jayden as he tried to protect his pregnant mother, Laterria Smith.
Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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Members of the City Council's Latino Caucus are calling for an investigation into how Chicago police responded to Wednesday's demonstration outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in the South Loop, where federal agents detained immigrants and clashed with aldermen. Read more here.
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After its inaugural year as a state-funded effort, Illinois' court-based rental assistance program for tenants struggling to pay rent and their landlords will stop accepting applications Friday and will see a third of its funds wiped away in the 2026 fiscal year that begins July 1. Read more here.
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Jerry Reinsdorf and Justin Ishbia reached a long-term investment agreement that establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox, the team announced today. Read more here.
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Two Chicago chefs have fought long and hard to make it to the 'Top Chef' season finale, which airs tonight and concludes June 12 on Bravo. Read more here.
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Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Vatican's child protection advisory commission today for the first time amid questions about his past handling of clergy sex abuse cases and demands from survivors that he enact a true policy of zero tolerance for abuse across the Catholic Church. Read more here.
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Former cop mom slams policies that let illegal alien allegedly strike son in hit-and-run: ‘A lot of problems'
A former police officer is pleading for the illegal immigrant who nearly killed her son in a hit-and-run on his 21st birthday to stop hiding and own up to his crime. "I keep saying it doesn't go back to if you're legal or illegal or any of that stuff. It's not a race thing. It is not any of that. It's called being a decent human being," Sheena Carach, the mother of Zach Carach, who is still hospitalized, told Fox News Digital. "It's about right and wrong. And if you hit someone, you stop. I mean, that's just what you do. It's inhumane not to stop. I don't care who you are. That makes you a monster." Sheena Carach's life was altered May 19 while she and her family were visiting Nashville from Florida to celebrate her son's 21st birthday. After brunch and touring Music City, she said her son was struck by a speeding car while he was attempting to cross a street, and the driver sped away. Manhunt Underway For Illegal Immigrant Wanted In Serious Nashville Hit-and-run "I can say in that moment, my heart left my body," Carach recalled. "I mean, I can clearly see myself running in the video. I know that happened. I was there, but I don't know how I was even breathing because I immediately thought I had just saw my child be killed. I thought I had lost my child. I ran to him, and I just started praying." Read On The Fox News App Weeks after his near-death encounter, Nashville police announced the suspect wanted in the case was Tony Lopez-Infante, 32, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who remains at large. WATCH: Video shows hit-and-run crash involving illegal suspect in Nashville A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Lopez-Infante entered the U.S. illegally in August 2023 and "has a final order of removal." Along with the hit-and-run, police noted that Lopez-Infante has several outstanding warrants, including one in Williamson County for a probation violation for a theft arrest. Police said the vehicle involved in the accident, a Mitsubishi Mirage, was returned by Lopez-Infante, with front-end damage, to a rental business in Mt. Juliet May 19. Homeland Security shared a post on X, stating, "The Biden Administration released this illegal alien into our country in 2023. "This crime was preventable and is the direct result of open border policies that prioritized illegal aliens over the safety of American citizens." "Officers located the car there the next day, on May 20. Investigation resulted in Lopez-Infante of Venezuela being identified as the hit-and-run driver," police said. Carach said her son would "never have gotten hit" if Lopez-Infante would "not have been allowed to rent a vehicle illegally." "He rented a car in February of this year that he had until he hit my son with no driver's license, with no insurance, without a major credit card on file. I mean, I wouldn't be able to walk into a business and do that," she said, after she ran her own investigation into her son's near-fatal crash. "I have to be 25. I have to have a license. I have to have insurance. I have to have a major card to rent a vehicle, but he just did it. And he paid cash every week, $200 every single week to rent this car. So, knowingly driving without a license, knowingly driving without insurance and he was just allowed to do this. There's a lot of problems with that." Illegal Immigrant Held Without Bail In Death Of University Of South Carolina Student Carach added that what was even more frustrating was Lopez-Infante showed no concern about hitting her son. "You know what you did, and you don't care at all? And you haven't come forward. To even try to … not that you could make it right at this point, but to even say like, 'Hey, I'm sorry for what I did.' He has no remorse in my eyes. He's a monster," she said. Carach said that her son will be using a wheelchair the next two months and is hopeful there is no permanent damage. Ice Files Detainers Against 2 Illegal Aliens, Including 1 Facing Attempted Murder Charges For Shooting Spree "I will say it was a hard one for me when this first happened, and I didn't feel like things were going as they should go. And I will say … that I won't put that on the police department. I'll put that on the mayor and everything that's been brought to my attention," Carach explained. She was referring to the backlash Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, a Democrat, has received. U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said O'Connell "condemned ICE's good work, promoted a fund to provide support dollars for illegal immigrants and their families in Nashville and even updated an executive order to fast-track the collection of all Nashville government employees' interactions with ICE." "It is indefensible that blue city mayors like Mayor O'Connell in Nashville have violated their oath of office by prioritizing illegal aliens over the law-abiding citizens they were elected to serve," Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital. "The illegal alien wanted for a hit-and-run in Nashville that left a 21-year-old man wheelchair-bound is exactly the type of person the mayor is protecting. Mayors across the country have a choice: help get these people off our streets or jeopardize the safety of their residents." O'Connell declined to comment to Fox News Digital. Law enforcement officials said that federal partners, including Homeland Security Investigations, are helping in the ongoing efforts to locate Lopez-Infante. "For us, this has just been an ongoing nightmare. To know that this guy, that we've seen his face, we know who he is, he's out there walking around free and then every single day we're sitting by our son's hospital bed," Carach said. "So, for us, it's kind of a little bit freeing, I guess, that you know they have now finally released his face to the public, and we can have that extra help in finding him."Original article source: Former cop mom slams policies that let illegal alien allegedly strike son in hit-and-run: 'A lot of problems'
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The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for June 7
Happy June, quotes readers! It was a tense and smoggy week in Chicago. Immigration advocates were alerted Wednesday of people being detained at a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. Organizers and several aldermen went to protest, and several of them clashed with federal agents. Now, City Council members plan to have a hearing to look into the Chicago Police Department's response to the demonstration. Local immigration advocates also plan to challenge President Donald Trump's travel ban that bars or restricts travelers from 19 countries. The U.S. president spoke with several world leaders this week. After a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump said the two countries will continue their trade talks. During their phone call Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the president that he would respond to Ukraine's recent drone attacks on a Russian airfield. And in a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump suggested that pursuing peace in eastern Europe is not the best path forward right now. Amidst all of this, the relationship between the president and his former close adviser Elon Musk came to a bitter end as the two exchanged harsh words on social media, and Trump threatened to cut Starlink and SpaceX's government contracts. The Trump administration is also investigating former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Meanwhile in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed aldermen to add a city grocery tax as the long-established state grocery levy expires. A jury found Crosetti Brand guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of Jayden Perkins, the 11-year-old killed in a brutal 2024 attack as he tried to protect his pregnant mother. And Chicago police determined that Officer Krystal Rivera, a mother and four-year veteran of the force, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow cop during a confrontation with an armed suspect Thursday in the Chatham neighborhood. In Springfield, Illinois lawmakers voted to pass the state budget. The $55 billion spending plan was balanced with a combination of spending cuts and an estimated $800 million in tax increases, including hikes on tobacco products, vaping and online sportsbooks. The passage of the budget closed out a legislative session with mixed results for Gov. JB Pritzker. Jerry Reinsdorf is selling the Chicago White Sox — just not this year. On Thursday, the team announced Reinsdorf and billionaire Justin Ishbia reached a long-term investment agreement for Ishbia to obtain a controlling interest in the team by 2029 at the earliest. In other sports news, the Chicago Fire are privately financing a $650 million soccer stadium at The 78, the Chicago Sports Network is finally broadcasting on Comcast and the Chicago Sky are taking on the Indiana Fever this weekend in the first professional women's basketball game played at the United Center. But fans hoping to catch another matchup between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will have to wait: The 2024 WNBA rookie of the year is out for a quadriceps strain. Though the forecast looks nice, you may consider spending some time indoors this weekend. Smoke from Canadian wildfires is blanketing Chicago, with the city's air quality at times ranked the worst in the U.S. That's it for the news! Test your knowledge of who said what with the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz from June 1 to 7. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for June 7
Happy June, quotes readers! It was a tense and smoggy week in Chicago. Immigration advocates were alerted Wednesday of people being detained at a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. Organizers and several aldermen went to protest, and several of them clashed with federal agents. Now, City Council members plan to have a hearing to look into the Chicago Police Department's response to the demonstration. Local immigration advocates also plan to challenge President Donald Trump's travel ban that bars or restricts travelers from 19 countries. The U.S. president spoke with several world leaders this week. After a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump said the two countries will continue their trade talks. During their phone call Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the president that he would respond to Ukraine's recent drone attacks on a Russian airfield. And in a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump suggested that pursuing peace in eastern Europe is not the best path forward right now. Amidst all of this, the relationship between the president and his former close adviser Elon Musk came to a bitter end as the two exchanged harsh words on social media, and Trump threatened to cut Starlink and SpaceX's government contracts. The Trump administration is also investigating former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Meanwhile in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed aldermen to add a city grocery tax as the long-established state grocery levy expires. A jury found Crosetti Brand guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of Jayden Perkins, the 11-year-old killed in a brutal 2024 attack as he tried to protect his pregnant mother. And Chicago police determined that Officer Krystal Rivera, a mother and four-year veteran of the force, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow cop during a confrontation with an armed suspect Thursday in the Chatham neighborhood. In Springfield, Illinois lawmakers voted to pass the state budget. The $55 billion spending plan was balanced with a combination of spending cuts and an estimated $800 million in tax increases, including hikes on tobacco products, vaping and online sportsbooks. The passage of the budget closed out a legislative session with mixed results for Gov. JB Pritzker. Jerry Reinsdorf is selling the Chicago White Sox — just not this year. On Thursday, the team announced Reinsdorf and billionaire Justin Ishbia reached a long-term investment agreement for Ishbia to obtain a controlling interest in the team by 2029 at the earliest. In other sports news, the Chicago Fire are privately financing a $650 million soccer stadium at The 78, the Chicago Sports Network is finally broadcasting on Comcast and the Chicago Sky are taking on the Indiana Fever this weekend in the first professional women's basketball game played at the United Center. But fans hoping to catch another matchup between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will have to wait: The 2024 WNBA rookie of the year is out for a quadriceps strain. Though the forecast looks nice, you may consider spending some time indoors this weekend. Smoke from Canadian wildfires is blanketing Chicago, with the city's air quality at times ranked the worst in the U.S. That's it for the news! Test your knowledge of who said what with the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz from June 1 to 7. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
