Bolingbrook victim in arson case dies from injuries, police say

A man in Bolingbrook who was allegedly set on fire by another man has died from his injuries.

The death of Kevin Wilson, 35, was announced on Tuesday by Bolingbrook police officials. Wilson suffered severe burns on July 24 and he succumbed to his injuries on Monday.

“Our [Bolingbrook Police Department] Investigations Division is working closely with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office regarding additional or upgraded charges. Our condolences go out to Mr. Wilson’s family and friends during this difficult time,” police said.

Wilson’s death raises the possibility of upgraded charges against Turdor Ereba, 21, of Bolingbrook. Ereba has been charged with aggravated battery with a flammable substance.

Ereba has also been charged with arson the Levy Center, 251 Canterbury Lane, where Wilson was severely burned.

Before the incident that led to Wilson’s death, Ereba had been on pretrial release in another case where he was charged with the arson of Little Caesars, 293 S. Bolingbrook Drive.

Prosecutors said Ereba had worked at the restaurant before he stopped showing up to work.

Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins had granted Ereba’s pretrial release on May 24 even though he was charged with arson, an offense considered eligible for detention under the SAFE-T Act.

Prosecutors had also filed a petition to deny Ereba’s jail release because he posed a danger to others.

DeWilkins had set no home confinement or electronic monitoring conditions for Ereba for his pretrial release, court records show.

At 1:13 a.m. July 24, officers were sent to the Levy Center but were notified by the Bolingbrook Fire Department that paramedics were treating Wilson for burns, according to prosecutors.

Officers went to a Bolingbrook fire station and met with Wilson, who said “some crazy” man had caused his burn injuries, which afflicted about 75% of his body, prosecutors said.

In the Little Caesars arson case, Ereba was accused of committing an arson during the same early morning hours on May 21.

Prosecutors alleged in a May 24 petition that Ereba got into a confrontation with the manager of Little Caesars in the weeks before the alleged arson.

At 1 a.m. on May 21, a suspect was seen on video using a brick to break open the lobby window to the restaurant and poured two bottles of liquid around a window sill and inside a lobby, prosecutors said.

“This [suspect] was later identified unequivocally [by the manager] as being [Ereba]. The [suspect] goes off screen and flames are ignited,” prosecutors said.

After firefighters and officers respond to the location, the business is boarded up, prosecutors said.

At 5:40 a.m. the same day, firefighters and officers respond to new fire damage to Little Caesars and discover a “strong smell of apparent gasoline,” prosecutors said.

Less than an hour later, Ereba was spotted a “mere block away” filling up a container with gasoline, prosecutors said.

In the petition that was denied by DeWilkins, prosecutors said Ereba has a “tenacious fixation” and likely an “outright obsession” with destroying Little Caesars. Prosecutors argued no conditions existed to protect the business from Ereba while he’s on pretrial release.