Grandson Confesses In Court To Setting Deadly Fire In Joliet

JOLIET, IL - On his fifth day of incarceration at the Will County Jail, 32-year-old William Vera appeared for a bail hearing and Vera informed Will County Courtroom 305 that he was admitting to setting the fire that killed his 87-year-old grandmother Teresa Collado at her two-story house, 1906 Glacier Ridge Drive, last Friday afternoon, March 22.

"I did this because I have a mental disability," the Will County prisoner blurted out during Tuesday afternoon's courtroom hearing. Vera appeared in front of Will County Associate Judge Chrystel Gavlin through a video monitor at the downtown jail facility.

Minutes earlier, Will County State's Attorneys informed the judge that Vera was being charged with two Class X felonies of aggravated arson, two counts of arson, a Class 2 felony, and one charge of criminal damage to property.

The fire claimed the life of Vera's grandmother.

Joliet's Fire Department rushed into the burning house and found the elderly woman on the second floor, where she had suffered severe burns. She was taken by ambulance to St. Joe's hospital, then airlifted to the Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, but she died several hours later, on Friday night.

The subdivision where the deadly fire happened is located on Joliet's far west side, near Plainfield, off Theodore Street.

The structure was destroyed and is now uninhabitable, Joliet's Deputy Fire Chief Greg Blaskey told Joliet Patch last weekend.

ORIGINAL STORY: Grandson Charged With Setting Deadly Joliet Fire

On Tuesday afternoon, once Vera began making his incriminating statement, Judge Gavlin interrupted him and scolded him for talking during Tuesday's court appearance.

"No one's being rude or being mean," she explained to Vera, trying to help him understand why he needed to keep quiet during his courtroom hearing.

"They're doing it to protect you," the judge continued.

Vera's mother and his brother informed the courtroom they were present for Tuesday afternoon's bail hearing.

The Will County Public Defender's Office was appointed to serve as Vera's criminal defense counsel.

Afterward, one of the public defenders huddled in a third floor hallway for several minutes with Vera's relatives, explaining the legal process to them, outside Courtroom 305.

Vera's case has a preliminary hearing and arraignment set for April 16 in Courtroom 405 of Circuit Judge David Carlson, who handles most of the county's serious felony cases.

Judge Gavlin informed Vera that several of his criminal charges carry a prison term ranging of six to 60 years while others carry a range in prison sentence of three to 14 years, if he gets convicted.

The criminal complaint indicates the Joliet fire Vera is accused of intentionally setting caused more than $100,000 in damage to the house, plus it caused someone to die.