Man just released from prison is arrested after 11-year-old boy killed, pregnant mother critically wounded in North Side home

A man just released from prison for domestic assault has been arrested after an 11-year-old boy was killed and his pregnant mother critically wounded inside their home Wednesday on the North Side, officials said.

The suspect, 37, has a long criminal history that dates back to at least 2004 in Cook County. He has been convicted of domestic battery and violating orders of protection in several cases. No charges had been announced as of Wednesday evening.

He was taken into custody hours after police were called to an apartment in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue just before 8 a.m. and found Jayden Perkins and his mother, 33, authorities said. The boy had suffered an injury to his chest, and the mother had been repeatedly stabbed.

“Someone is bleeding from the neck,” an officer on the scene radioed. “The son is on the floor.”

The two were taken to Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where the boy was pronounced dead and his mother was listed in critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department and the medical examiner’s office.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

An officer dispatched to the hospital reported the woman was eight months pregnant. Earlier police reports said both the boy and the woman had been shot, but the department later said the woman suffered “multiple stab wounds.” The department did not elaborate on the injury suffered by the boy.

Neighbors said a 5-year-old boy was in the home at the time but apparently was not hurt. Police would not comment, but sources said the woman had two children and was expecting her third.

A neighbor said she heard “screaming, just screaming” coming from the apartment Wednesday morning. She didn’t know the victims well but said they were mother and son.

“She was a lovable woman, her son was very well-mannered and spoke to me all the time,” she said. “I pray for the family. It’s sad. I pray for her baby’s father. I hope they get over this tragedy, and they grieve. It’s tragic, I hope it never happens to anyone, ever again.”

The attacker fled north on Ravenswood, officials said. The police department said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that an arrest had been made but gave no details.

The suspect was most recently convicted of aggravated domestic battery home invasion and possession of a stolen motor vehicle in 2017. State prison records show the suspect was paroled Tuesday from the Stateville Correctional Center, where he had been held since Feb. 1.

He previously noted in a filing in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against state prison officials that he had been released from prison Oct. 6. It’s unclear why he was sent back to prison in the same case. Officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections, the state Prisoner Review Board and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office didn’t respond to questions.

The suspect had appealed the conviction all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court, which affirmed a previous appellate court decision denying his petition while allowing for a hearing on the suspect’s claim that his counsel was ineffective.

The conviction stemmed from Nov. 3, 2015, when the suspect forced his way into an ex-girlfriend’s Kenwood apartment and attacked her and her son while she was cooking dinner for her kids.

The woman had ended the relationship four days earlier and had rebuffed the suspect when he came to her workplace earlier that day. He later arrived at the apartment, pushed through the doorway when the woman answered and placed a gun to her chin, according to the Supreme Court ruling.

He then forced her against a wall and started choking her. When her teenage son tried to intervene, the suspect aimed the gun at the boy and asked, “Is this what you want?” according to court records.

After continuing the attack on the woman, the suspect fled in her Kia Sedona, according to the ruling. He was arrested weeks later and was found with the keys.

On Wednesday, shaken neighbors gathered outside the Ravenswood apartment building.

“This is a peaceful neighborhood. The most you’ll see that happens is a car crash,” one neighbor said. “Is this really happening? It’s scary.”

Many said they didn’t know the woman well, but she was polite and friendly. They often saw her taking her son to school.

“They were just good people,” the neighbor said. “Why would you do that to a child?”

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times