Mental Fitness Exam Looms For Joliet Man Charged In Deadly Fire

JOLIET, IL — William Vera, a far west-side Joliet resident who was arrested after the deadly house fire on Glacier Ridge Drive that killed his 87-year-old grandmother Teresa Collado, has remained in Will County's Jail nearly three years, and it does not appear his trial will happen anytime soon.

Last week, Will County Judge Carmen Goodman entered a sanity order for Vera, now 35. The document states that Vera will be evaluated for sanity at the time of the offense. The judge directed the Mental Health Unit of Will County Court Services to conduct the examination of Vera at the Will County Jail where he has remained since the day of the fire, March 22, 2019.

"The court finds a bona fide doubt exists as to the defendant's fitness to stand trial," Judge Goodman's fitness order from Dec. 9 reads.

Jail logs indicate that Vera lived at the location of the deadly fire, 1906 Glacier Drive, in the Plainfield area of Joliet. His bail remains set at $1 million.

"I did this because I have a mental disability," the Will County prisoner blurted out during his first courtroom hearing a few days after the fatal fire.

Back in 2019, Patch reported that Joliet's Fire Department rushed into the burning house and found the elderly woman on the second floor, where she had suffered severe burns. Collado was taken by ambulance to St. Joe's hospital, then airlifted to the Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, where she died several hours later.

Goodman has asked that the mental fitness hearing for Vera take place on Feb. 10 in Courtroom 503. Vera's murder charge carries a prison sentence ranging from 20 to 60 years, if convicted. His motion incorrectly states that he was arrested by the Plainfield Police Department.

In June, Vera filed a motion to dismiss the Will County prosecution's case against him.

"Defendant states he was under a paralysis of temporary impairment in reference to his ingestion of psychotropic medications causing severe side effects which result in hallucinations, blurriness of vision, involuntary physical outbursts and alter of thought process including the disconnect of mental and all cognitive abilities," Vera wrote from the Will County Jail on June 19.

"The circumstances of this ingestion of medications had caused a loss of judgment. Defendant, moves at this time for a motion to dismiss the true bill of indictment."

On Sept. 30, Vera submitted another motion, trying to suppress his statements to Joliet police.

"Defendant has no cognitive ability to understand the complaint warrant and the nature and cause of the charging indictment," Vera wrote.