Plainfield man seeks dismissal of deadly 2019 arson case

A Plainfield man charged with a 2019 arson that led to his grandmother’s death has filed motions to dismiss the case and suppress his statements to the police.

William Vera, 35, of the 1900 block of Glacier Ridge Drive filed the two motions himself on Oct. 4. Will County Judge Carmen Goodman has not yet ruled on them, court records show.

Vera argued in one motion that any oral and written statements he made should be suppressed because he was taken to the Joliet Police Department and interviewed without any warnings of his Miranda rights. He also argued he had no cognitive ability to understand the charges against him.

In another motion, Vera argued the case should be dismissed because the aggravated arson and arson charges lack of the elements needed to show he had caused intentional injury to any person or property.

Vera claimed he ingested psychotropic medication that resulted in hallucinations, blurry vision, involuntary physical outbursts, and mental and cognitive issues.

“The circumstances of this ingestion of medications had caused a loss of judgement,” Vera said.

Vera has been in the Will County jail since March 22, 2019. He was charged with causing the death of his grandmother, Teresa Collado, 87, by setting her Plainfield home on fire that day.

Since then, Vera has been found fit to stand trial. His case is scheduled for another pretrial hearing on Nov. 2.

Vera, who is “mentally challenged” and lived with Collado, apparently “heard voices,” according to the Cook County medical examiner reports.

He poured gasoline in a vase, put paper towels in the vase and set it on fire on the first floor of Collado’s home in the 1900 block of Glacier Ridge Drive, the reports said.

Joliet police officers and paramedics responded to Collado’s home about 1:30 p.m. March 22, 2019. They found Collado lying on her bed on the home’s second floor, the reports said. She was unresponsive.

About 76% of Collado’s body was burned, the reports said. She also had soot in her nostrils, ears and the airways of her respiratory system.

Collado was taken to Amita Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet and then to the burn intensive care unit at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she was pronounced deceased.