After the killing of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins nearly two weeks ago, advocates who work with domestic violence survivors are reviving calls for domestic violence to be treated as a community safety issue.

This comes as two members of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board resigned Monday following the board’s decision to allow Crosetti Brand out on parole even after alleged violations. A day later, Brand allegedly stabbed his pregnant ex-girlfriend and killed her son, Perkins, while in their North Side apartment on March 13.

Perkins died while trying to protect his mother, officials said.

Brand has been charged with numerous felonies including first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

“It is both tragic and, unfortunately, not a unique situation,” said Ashley Olson, associate director of Ascend Justice. “We see a lot with our clients, this cycle of domestic violence, and unfortunately, a cycle of systems failing victims.”

Ascend Justice offers free legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence. Olson said when it comes to orders of protection, systems can fail victims both in enforcement and by not granting those orders.

Members of the organization Healing to Action have been offering support in the community since Perkins’ killing.

Karla Altmayer, the group’s co-founder and co-director, said that parents she has spoken with in the community “had no idea” what Perkins’ mother was going through.

“The system itself has been broken and putting another Band Aid solution is just not going to actually make the system accessible,” Altmayer said. “What we would propose is, on the short-term, having a community-based approach where you have a network of support for the survivors embedded in their communities.”

Contact Eunice Alpasan: @eunicealpasan | 773-509-5362 | [email protected]

A Safer City is supported, in part, by the Sue Ling Gin Foundation Initiative for Reducing Violence in Chicago.