Crystal Lake man charged in attack ordered into mental health facility

A Crystal Lake man found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges he tried to kill his girlfriend was ordered Friday into a locked down mental health facility, perhaps until the year 2032.

Former Hurricane Katrina evacuee Willie M. Terry, 49, must undergo inpatient treatment in a secure institution for the foreseeable future, according to a report disclosed in court Friday from a state psychiatrist.

Under state law, Terry can be held in the facility until May 7, 2032 - the longest he could have been imprisoned had he been found guilty of attempted murder - or released sooner if doctors and a judge find it appropriate.

Before the insanity finding in November, Terry had been facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated domestic battery and armed violence stemming from a Sept. 6, 2006, attack on his 54-year-old girlfriend.

Police said Terry stabbed the woman repeatedly in the upper body and face in a Crystal Lake apartment they shared after fleeing their native Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Terry later told police he attacked the woman because she become the devil. Police reports said Terry would slip in and out of "trance-like" states while speaking with detectives.

Psychological reports indicated Terry had a long history of mental illness and had been hospitalized in June 2006 after calling police to his apartment and asking them to remove his girlfriend because she was possessed.