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DeKALB – A DeKalb man who pleaded guilty in February to murdering teenager Gracie Sasso-Cleveland in 2023 won’t be sentenced as planned this week.
Instead, Timothy M. Doll, 31, has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, court records show. His sentencing is on hold as the evaluation is pending. His case is before Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery.
Doll pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder. He suffocated the DeKalb High School freshman to death after they argued at his apartment the night of May 4, 2023, authorities said. Doll’s plea, part of a deal agreed upon by him, his defense lawyer Andrew Nickel and prosecutors with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office, came a month before his case was set to go before a jury at trial.
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He was expected to be sentenced Wednesday. But a pre-sentencing investigation raised some questions about his fitness, records show.
The investigation is a common procedural step taken before handing a sentence down, meant to help court officials and judges gather information to better inform a sentence. That could include speaking with someone close to the defendant or reviewing criminal and personal history.
It’s not known what in the pre-sentence investigation may have led Doll’s defense to seek a psychiatric evaluation.
Doll faces 20 to 60 years in prison. Under Illinois law, he will not be eligible for probation and will not get credit for the time he has served in custody without bond at the DeKalb County Jail. He’s been held without release since his May 2023 arrest.
May 7 will mark two years since police found Sasso-Cleveland dead in a dumpster outside Doll’s DeKalb apartment after her mother reported her missing. The DeKalb County Coroner’s Office ruled that she died from asphyxiation May 4, records show.
Doll previously pleaded not guilty. Before police found Sasso-Cleveland, Doll initially denied being with her May 4, 2023. He tried to hide evidence that she’d been in his home, prosecutors said. After he suffocated her with a pillow for about three minutes, Doll took her body, placed it in a laundry basket, and carried the basket to a nearby dumpster, trying to hide evidence of the crime, according to court records.