A Tennessee man is the third person charged in connection with a botched 2014 home invasion in Norwood Park that left a resident and an alleged accomplice dead on the Northwest Side.
Brandon Perkins, 22, was arrested on a first-degree murder warrant Wednesday for the Sept. 5, 2014 incident in the 5800 block of North Mobile, according to Chicago Police. Brittney Mitchell, 19, and 23-year-old Orhan Cerimagic have been held without bond on murder charges since then, Homicide Watch Chicago reported previously.
Mitchell thought an acquaintance, later identified as 35-year-old Desmond Gunawardana, had a large stash of drugs at his home and schemed to steal them along with Perkins, Cerimagic and his 20-year-old brother Miran Cerimagic, prosecutors said at Mitchell’s bond hearing in the days after the attack.
She arranged to meet Gunawardana at the home about 10 p.m. and went inside while the other three waited in a car driven by Orhan about a block away, prosecutors said. Mitchell unlocked the back door and texted Orhan once she had done so, prosecutors said.
Miran and Perkins took the cue to enter the home with a gun and zip ties that they planned to use to restrain Gunawardana, prosecutors said.
Once inside, a tussle ensued as Miran and Gunawardana grabbed knives and stabbed each other repeatedly, prosecutors said. The resident was stabbed in the neck and pronounced dead at the scene after authorities were called to the home about 11:30 p.m. for a well-being check, authorities said.
Orhan Cerimagic (left), Brittney Mitchell | Cook County sheriff’s office
Mitchell, Miran and Perkins had run back to the car to take Miran to Swedish Covenant Hospital, where he later died of his stab wounds, authorities said. He lived in the 6200 block of North Hoyne, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Both the deaths were ruled homicides.
Mitchell initially told police and hospital staff that Miran had been stabbed during a cellphone robbery but later admitted to taking part in the break-in when detectives couldn’t confirm her story, prosecutors said.
The surviving trio were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one of home invasion, police said.
Perkins was arrested Wednesday with the help of U.S. Marshals in his hometown of Ridgely, Tennessee, and ordered held without bond at a Saturday hearing, according to Cook County Circuit Court records. He has another court date Monday.
Mitchell, of the 4700 block of North Lamon, is due back in court Wednesday. Cerimagic, who lived with his brother on Hoyne, has a status hearing March 4.
