Overview

• Cook County prosecutors concluded their case June 2 after more than two dozen witnesses recounted the March 13, 2024, attack that killed 11-year-old Jayden Perkins and gravely injured his pregnant mother, Laterria Smith.
• Brand, 39, faces charges of murder, attempted murder, home invasion and aggravated domestic battery and chose to represent himself throughout the proceedings.
• Detective Michael Carroll described how surveillance footage tracked Brand disposing of a knife, changing clothes and discarding shoes as he fled Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.
• Smith identified Brand at her hospital bedside and testified that he had a history of domestic abuse and returned to her apartment days after his parole board release despite her requests to end the relationship.
• With the state’s evidence complete, the trial moves to Brand’s defense phase, during which he may call witnesses or take the stand himself.