Illinois Parole Board Members Step Down Following Release Of Man Who Fatally Stabbed 11-Year-Old Boy Less Than 24 Hours Later
The chair of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and a board member have resigned following public backlash over the release of a man who went on to fatally stab his ex-girlfriend’s young son, reports the NY Post. Donald Shelter, the board chair, and LeAnn Miller, a board member, stepped down on Monday after 11-year-old Jayden Perkins was murdered on March 13. The incident occurred less than 24 hours after the man was granted parole. Crosetti Brand, 37, allegedly attacked Jayden and his mother, Laterria Smith, at their home in Edgewater. Smith survived the attack but suffered a stab wound to her neck. Miller had reportedly approved Brand’s parole the day before the incident, which has caused widespread outrage because Smith had previously sought an order of protection against Brand. A hearing was scheduled for March 13, but the attack occurred before it took place. The Illinois Department of Corrections and the Prisoner Review Board claim they were unaware of the hearing, though emails suggest otherwise. “It is clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve, and I am committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. Brand was paroled in October but was sent back to prison in February after threatening a woman via text. He now faces a murder charge and other violations in connection with Jayden’s death. #Clique, what are your thoughts?
Mother Details Her 16-Year-Old Daughter’s Last Moments After Being Fatally Stabbed After Leaving an Orlando Skating Rink
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder after stabbing two teenage girls, resulting in the death of one of them, according to investigators in Florida, per WSBTV. The incident took place outside an Amscot advance cash store east of Orlando on Friday, March 15, around 11 p.m., as reported by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. The motive behind the attack has not been disclosed at this time. “Deputies responded to a physical altercation. … Upon arrival, they found two 16-year-old females who had been stabbed,” the sheriff’s office reports. “Both were transported to the hospital in critical condition, and one later died.” Officials have identified the girl who tragically lost her life as Kennedy Williams. However, the identity of the other victim has not been disclosed at this time. In a recent update, authorities have arrested Anthony Rushing and charged him with one count of second-degree murder. It remains unclear whether Rushing had any prior connection with the two victims. Jasmyne Elizabeth Stringer, who identified herself as Kennedy Williams’ mother in a Facebook post, shared that doctors made extensive efforts, lasting 90 minutes, to save her daughter’s life. “My baby was killed last night & I will never be the same,” Stringer wrote in a Facebook post. “I am heartbroken. I am stunned. I am shattered. … Lord give me the strength to keep living as I have another child to be strong for. Life will never be the same. This pain is unbearable,” she wrote. #Clique, what are your thoughts?
Elderly Woman Sentenced For Fatally Stabbing Man With Her Cane During Altercation Involving Her Son
A 70-year-old woman from Pennsylvania has been found guilty of murder after using a hidden blade in her cane to fatally stab a man who was fighting with her son, reports Law & Crime. The incident occurred on June 10, 2023, and the victim, Michael Thomas Sides, 31, passed away. The suspect, Renee DiPietro, said she plans to appeal the court’s ruling. “What would you do if it was your child,” she told reporters. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, the Lower Marion Township Police Department responded to a stabbing incident at the intersection of Cricket Avenue and Cricket Terrace around 1:30 a.m. on June 10. The victim, Michael Thomas Sides, was rushed to the hospital. Sadly, he passed away about an hour later. A friend of Sides named Dan Rogers told detectives that Sides had been attacked earlier in the evening by Jason DiPietro. Sides said he would confront Jason. During the altercation, Sides tried to stop Jason from getting into a white car. His parents, Renee and Michael DiPietro, came out of the vehicle. Rogers witnessed Renee DiPietro aggressively approach the victim, causing him to fall to the ground. She appeared to be holding a black cane that disassembled after she struck the victim while he was on the ground. DiPietro was convicted of third-degree murder and possessing a weapon. #Clique, what are your thoughts?
Elderly Man Fatally Stabs Wife After Altercation Over Pancakes, Police Say
An 85-year-old man from Washington, D.C. was arrested on Thursday for allegedly killing his 81-year-old wife during an argument over pancakes, according to federal prosecutors per NBC News. Steven Schwartz is accused of fatally stabbing his wife, Sharron Schwartz, at their home on Sunday, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Steven Schwartz “did not want to eat the pancakes she made and stabbed her in the back,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement announcing the arrest. Police were called to a stabbing incident at 3:40 p.m. When they arrived they discovered Sharron Schwartz with injuries and Steven Schwartz with self-inflicted injuries. Both individuals were transported to a hospital, where Sharron Schwartz later passed away. According to a police affidavit filed in the district criminal case, Steven Schwartz stated that he has a strong dislike for food, and his wife was attempting to make him eat, which led to an argument. Steven Schwartz told police that he suffers from a condition related to food aversion and depression. He expressed remorse, stating that his wife did not deserve to die and that he wished he had died instead. During a following interview with investigators, Schwartz disclosed that he and his wife had been married for 40 years and that he loved her deeply. He also mentioned that he had hoped the act of killing his wife was a figment of his imagination, according to another police document submitted to the court. Schwartz explained that he was in the process of recovering from a stroke at the time of the incident. The U.S. attorney’s office has charged Steven Schwartz with second-degree murder while armed. A Superior Court judge, after a hearing on Thursday, ordered that Schwartz be held without bail. #Clique, what are your thoughts?
Man Finally Sentenced To Life For The 2021 Fatal Stabbing Of His Father, Prosecutors Say Suspect Stabbed Father With The Same Knife He Gifted Son With
A California man is facing a life sentence for fatally stabbing his father with a knife he gifted him with, Radar reported. James Shade, 32, was found guilty of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of his father, whose identity has not been disclosed. He was sentenced to 26 years to life in the California Department of Corrections. Roseville Police Department said they responded to a call on March 14, 2021, about a stab victim. The unidentified victim was reportedly found lifeless on his neighbor’s front porch. According to the outlet, Shade was caught on surveillance footage fleeing the crime scene. Investigators later found documents in the victim’s home that revealed that the suspect was his son. Police later apprehended Shade at his home in Paradise. Shade admitted to driving from his residence in Paradise to his father’s house in Roseville because he planned on serving his father with a restraining order, Radar reported. According to prosecutors, Shade arrived at his father’s home while armed with a knife, viciously stabbing him over 20 times with the same knife the victim gave to him weeks before the murder. He claimed to be acting in self-defense, according to the outlet. “Lack of remorse has been particularly disturbing [and] he showed no signs of remorse immediately after killing his father, during his testimony at trial and in statements he made after the jury rendered its verdict. His anger toward his father did not in any way justify his decision to brutally end another human’s life,” Deputy Director Attorney Anna Duffy said in a statement. #Clique, what are your thoughts?
Bronx Man Stabbed By Girlfriend In Stairwell Where He Slept On Nights She Wouldn’t Let Him In
A Bronx woman is now in police custody after allegedly stabbing him to death in their apartment building’s stairwell, Daily News reported. On Saturday, at around 10:30 P.M., John “Biggie” Levestone began knocking in the door of the apartment he shared with girlfriend Crystal Fryson. Despite the 37-year-old begging to be let in, Fryson refused. The two then began a shouting match. “He was shouting and screaming at her,” said neighbor Justin Sanchez. “She kept shouting back from inside the apartment, ‘I don’t want to talk to you, you piece of s***!’” After a few minutes of back and forth, Levestone gave up and started walking towards the nearest stairwell, where he frequently slept when he was not allowed inside their apartment. On his way there, he attempted to break neighbors’ Ring cameras as he passed by them. “Now his broke a** is running,” Fryson was heard yelling from behind their apartment’s front door. Moments later, when Levestone was well into the stairwell, Fryson and two other women left the apartment to follow him, leaving a small child waiting and watching from the doorway. “He stopped hollering and went into the stairwell and she came out screaming,” Sanchez recalls. “The real fighting happened in the stairwell. They just kept yelling in the stairwell but I don’t know what happened after that. I just heard children start screaming and crying.” Fryson was then heard yelling in the stairwell as the two women she was with sprinted back to the apartment. “Move back, move back, move back, move back!,” she can be heard yelling at her boyfriend. “I dare you to come over here.” Shortly after, police arrived to find Levestone with stab wounds. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he sadly succumbed to his wounds. Fryson was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession.
Man Fatally Stabs Wife, Sends Photos Of Her Body To Affair Partner, Then Takes Her Body To Police Station To Confess
A Connecticut man has been arrested after confessing to killing his wife and sending photos of her body to her “new boyfriend,” Law And Crime reports. On April 16th, at around 3:20 P.M., Pedro Grajalez entered Hartford Police Department’s headquarters and told a front desk officer that he had stabbed his wife to death. According to police documents, the 52-year-old then took out his phone, showed him photos he had taken of a stabbed woman, and stated that her body was in a vehicle just outside of the building. After detaining Grajalez, the officer located the vehicle and discovered 57-year-old Nilda Rivera alive, but unresponsive. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to her wounds. Medical professionals who attempted to save Rivera say she “sustained upwards of twenty-five puncture wounds to her chest, head, face, and arms.” When investigators asked Grajalez what led him to kill his wife, the suspect explained that he had recently discovered that Rivera was having an affair with another man. He claims that after stabbing her, he sent a photo of the aftermath to her “new boyfriend” as revenge. Grajalez has since been charged with one count of murder, and is being held on a $3 million bond. He is scheduled to reappear in court on May 15th.
Serial Killer Super Fan “Giggled” After Fatally Stabbing Boyfriend
In July of 2022, a 27-year-old woman in Havant, Hampshire slit the throat of her boyfriend before plunging the blade into his chest 17 times, The Telegraph reports. In her bedroom, which was decorated with framed photos of serial killers and weapons, Shaye Groves and Frankie Fitzgerald would have sex as they filmed. Both interested in BDSM, they would regularly videotape their sexual counters to imitate rape, despite it being consensual. Groves would later use the footage to claim self defense, but unedited versions refuted her claims. On the day of Fitzgerald’s death, Groves discovered that her boyfriend had been messaging who she mistakenly thought was a 13-year-old girl on social media. Though the individual had actually been 17, Groves acted out of jealousy and attacked Fitzgerald as he slept. Afterwards, she called a friend via video chat and “giggled” as she revealed the victim’s body. According to prosecutor Steven Perian, Groves used knowledge obtained from watching crime documentaries to portray herself as a victim of sexual violence. He says that “the defendant, by reading about and watching murder documentaries, she was familiar with crime scenes, how to create a false narrative, and how to set up a false alibi.” Despite her efforts, Groves was found guilty to murder following a trial. The 27-year-old has been sentenced to 23 years in prison.
French Teen Fatally Stabbed Teacher During Class, Says He Was ‘Possessed’
A 16-year-old French high school student claiming to be “possessed” stabbed his Spanish-language teacher to death in the middle of class, officials said per the NY Post. The deadly attack happened on Wednesday at the private Catholic school of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The victim was identified as a 54-year-old female teacher by the name of Agnes Lassalle, according to the French outlet. Witnesses say the suspect got out of his seat and walked to the door, before suddenly swinging around and plunging a large knife into the teacher’s chest, local newspaper Sud Ouest reported. According to the outlet, after the stabbing, the teen allegedly expressed to another teacher that he was “possessed and heard voices telling him to kill his teacher.” Witnesses described his demeanor after the fatal stabbing as “calm.” A top government official told the local outlet that, “early details communicated by the police suggest the teen suffers from serious mental health issues,” reports state. Bayonne prosecutor Jerome Bourrier said the teenage suspect has since been taken into custody. French Education Minister Pap Ndiaye, said at a press conference held at the school, that “about 90 students, including those who witnessed the bloody attack, along with some teachers, are receiving psychological help.” #Clique, what are your thoughts?
Memphis Man Charged With Stabbing His Sister And Her Boyfriend
On Tuesday, officers from the Memphis Police Department responded to a stabbing that left one injured and one dead. According to Action 5 News, Tyron Merriweather was in an argument with his sister, due to her threatening their mother and other family members. Merriweather then stabbed his sister and challenged her boyfriend, Taborian Richmond, to a one-on-one fight. When Richmond accepted, he was stabbed as well. At around, 3:25 P.M., police arrived to the home and arrested Merriweather without incident. His sister was treated for minor injuries at the scene, and is expected to recover fully. Richmond was taken to a nearby hospital where he later succumbed to his wounds. Merriweather has since been charged with second-degree murder and criminal attempted second-degree murder. No bond has been set, and the suspect is scheduled to be in court Thursday, February 23rd.
