Fiery Fatal Crash On Glenwood: Will Co. Investigator Freed From Jail

JOLIET, IL — Maria Aiello, the 47-year-old Will County Public Defender's investigator who faces eight counts of reckless homicide and two counts of aggravated driving under the influence in connection with a fiery crash that killed a doctor on Glenwood Avenue, was let out of the Will County Jail on Thursday.

According to Will County's court records, Assistant State's Attorney Will Lite appeared before the Kankakee County judge assigned to handle Aiello's case, as did her lawyer, Daniel Walsh of Joliet. Thursday's detention hearing was allowed under the new SAFE-T Act, and the judge did not find clear and convincing evidence to detain the Joliet defendant.

Instead, Aello was placed on home confinement and electronic monitoring. The judge also ordered Aiello to obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation and comply with its recommendations.

"Defendant is released as to this matter," Kankakee County Judge William Dickenson ordered.

Aiello was in the Will County Jail for the past 14 months. She was originally booked into custody on Aug. 24, 2022. Her case has been assigned to the Kankakee County judge to avoid a conflict of interest with Will County's judges, since Aiello works for Will County's court system.

In 2022, bail for Aiello was set at $500,000 for Aiello.

The March 15, 2022, fatal crash happened around 8:15 p.m. on Glenwood Avenue near the St. Joseph Medical Center, killing Dr. Ednalice Pagan-Romney, a licensed psychologist from Aurora who had an office on nearby Hammes Avenue.

Her car burst into flames after being rear-ended by Aiello's vehicle.

Joliet police said that the 2015 Chevrolet Trax driven by Aiello was traveling westbound on Glenwood Avenue at a high rate of speed in the inside lane. As Aiello's vehicle approached the intersection of Springfield Avenue, it struck the rear of a 2020 Acura TLX driven by Pagan-Romney, 50, which had been stopped.

At 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19, Aiello emerged from the Will County Jail as a free person, for the first time since the summer of 2022. The Joliet woman lives on the east side, in the apartment units in the 100 block of Arizona Avenue, her jail logs show.