Katrina evacuee again unfit for trial

A Hurricane Katrina evacuee accused of trying to kill his live-in girlfriend after the couple moved to McHenry County was ruled unfit -- for a second time -- to stand trial.

Relying on a sealed psychological report for Willie M. Terry, McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather on Friday ordered the former Louisiana man into the Illinois Department of Human Services for treatment designed to make him fit for trial within a year.

Terry, 47, faces charges of attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated domestic battery for a Sept. 9, 2006, attack in Crystal Lake in which he stabbed his girlfriend at least five times in the face, torso and arm, police said.

Terry and the 54-year-old victim moved to Crystal Lake in September 2005 after Katrina ruined their New Orleans-area home.

When questioned by police after the attack, Terry told detectives he believed the 54-year-old victim had become a demon and he was acting on God's orders to kill her, authorities have said.

Terry initially was found unfit to stand trial in October 2006 and spent about nine months in a state mental health facility before a judge in June decided he was able to comprehend the legal proceedings against him and help prepare a defense.

Since then, however, Terry's condition worsened while in the McHenry County jail awaiting trial, his attorney said Friday.

"He's deteriorated to the point he again is unfit," Senior Assistant Public Defender Christopher Harmon said.