Murder trial date set for Timothy Doll, charged in DeKalb teen’s slaying

DeKALB – A 2025 jury trial date has been set for the man accused in the brutal May 2023 killing of DeKalb teenager Gracie Sasso-Cleveland, prosecutors confirmed.

The jury is expected to convene beginning March 3, lead prosecutor Scott Schwertley confirmed. Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery will preside. Timothy M. Doll is expected to have multiple pretrial status hearings between now and Feb. 26, DeKalb County court records show.

Doll, who appeared in court for a status hearing Wednesday, faces first-degree murder charges, a Class M felony. He appeared virtually from where he’s been held in the DeKalb County jail without release since his arrest almost 17 months ago. He also was arraigned Wednesday on three new felony charges that he picked up in June after authorities said he damaged a fire sprinkler while in a holding cell in the jail, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the new charges, records show.

Schwertley told Montgomery in May that he was ready for a jury trial on Doll’s murder charges. Doll is represented by Special Public Defender Andrew Nickel.

The body of Sasso-Cleveland, 15, was found by DeKalb police inside a dumpster next to Doll’s College Avenue apartment May 7, 2023. Loved ones who’ve continuously called for a harsh sentence for Doll, if convicted, remembered Sasso-Cleveland for her love of art and animals. They held a posthumous Sweet 16 birthday party a year ago. She would have turned 17 on Sept. 14.

[ Timeline of slain DeKalb teen Gracie Sasso-Cleveland's death, man charged with murder in killing ]

Police and prosecutors have alleged that Doll, now 30, was in an illegal dating relationship with Sasso-Cleveland, a girl half his age. Prosecutors allege that Doll argued with Sasso-Cleveland in his apartment the night of May 4, 2023, suffocated her to death with a pillow, and then tried to dispose of her body to hide the crime from authorities, according to court records.

Her mother, Ericka Sasso, reported Gracie missing two days later on May 6. Sasso-Cleveland’s body was found by police the next day.

The DeKalb County Coroner’s Office ruled that Sasso-Cleveland died from asphyxiation May 4, 2023, records show.

Doll is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, concealment of homicidal death, aggravated domestic battery, two counts of obstructing justice, unlawful restraint and unlawful communication of a child sex offender.

A registered sex offender when the DeKalb High School freshman was killed, Doll could face extended sentencing of 20 to 120 years in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. He was on probation at the time of the slaying for another sexual abuse case against a different girl, according to court records. He had pleaded guilty and was sentenced in that case less than two months before Sasso-Cleveland was killed, court records show.

Doll previously pleaded not guilty to the charges despite police allegations that he confessed to the crime, according to court records. Police said he also admitted that he knew Sasso-Cleveland was 15.

Police said Doll admitted to suffocating Sasso-Cleveland for three minutes before depositing her body in a laundry basket and carrying her outside to a dumpster, court records show.

He’s also accused of trying to cover up the killing. DeKalb police allege that he took Sasso-Cleveland’s cellphone and discarded it in the trash at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, where he’d gone the night of her death to have his back checked out. He told authorities that he injured his back lifting the slain girl’s body, according to court records.

During a warrant search of Doll’s apartment building, DeKalb police also found female clothing in the basement that matched the description of clothing Sasso-Cleveland last wore, according to court records.

Doll is next expected to appear for a pretrial status hearing at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 13.