Andre Brown / Photo from Chicago Police
BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
A Southwest Side man fatally stabbed his 54-year-old mother Monday night because she kept “putting him down and telling him that he needed to get a girlfriend,” prosecutors said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini claimed Andre Brown stabbed Damita Collins in the chest and slit her throat in a home they shared in the 3500 block of West 77th Place.
Collins was the site director of Trumbull Park Head Start Program, part of the Ada S. McKinley schools.
Santini said Collins’ husband was in the basement eating dinner and watching television when he heard several loud noises upstairs about 9 p.m. Monday. A police source said the man was watching the Bulls game.
The man went upstairs and found his bedroom door locked, but before he could open it with the key, Brown yanked the door open and forced his way out, Santini said.
Inside the bedroom, the man found his wife lying on the floor in a pool of blood, Santini said.
The man chased Brown, his step-son, but he eventually fled the home and drove off in his mother’s car, Santini said.
The man called 911 and attempted to help his wife, who died at the scene, authorities said.
Investigators found a defensive wound on Collins’ thumb and a bloody knife in a butcher block in the kitchen, Santini said.
On Tuesday, McKinley schools sent a letter to staff and offered grief counseling available.
“It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Damita Collins. Damita was involved in a fatal incident last night. Police are overseeing the matter. Our hearts go out to her family,” the letter said.
Damita Collins / Photo from LinkedIn
Police arrested Brown, 26, on Tuesday, authorities said. He had cuts on his hands and face, as well as blood on his hands, shoes and clothes, Santini said.
Brown gave a videotaped statement to detectives admitting to stabbing his mother during an argument because she put him down and said he needed a girlfriend, Santini said.
Assistant Public Defender Chandra Smith said Brown is a life-long Illinois resident who completed high school and attended some college classes. He is single with no children, she said.
On Wednesday, Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered Brown held on $1 million bond and issued a next court date of Jan. 27.
— Contributing: Jordan Owen and Reema Amin