Illinois Sex Offender Accused of Killing 15-Year-Old Girl He Was Dating, Dumping Body in Dumpster — ‘She Fought to Her Last Breath’

A convicted sex offender in Illinois smothered a high school freshman to death and then disposed of her body in a dumpster, authorities claim.

Timothy Doll, 29, was charged with murder and other crimes in connection with the death of 15-year-old Gracie Sasso-Cleveland, the DeKalb Police Department said.

Chief David Byrd told WLS that the suspect was in a “dating relationship” with the victim, who went missing on May 4. “He’s a predator, and he sought out this 15 year old and snuffed her life out.”

After police opened an investigation into the girl’s disappearance, they used phone records to determine she was at a DeKalb home.

Her body was found in a dumpster on May 7, and Doll was arrested for her killing the following day, police said.

“He held the victim down and suffocated her with a pillow until she lost consciousness, to which she did not recover,” police said. “He later put her body in the dumpster, removed her personal items from his apartment and threw her phone away in the garbage at another location.”

Police said Doll now faces multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sex abuse, concealment of a homicide, aggravated domestic battery, two counts of obstruction of justice, unlawful restraint, and unlawful communication by a child sex offender.

“She fought to her last breath,” Jessica Schlick said at a memorial for the victim, WREX reported. “She was the sweetest soul in the world and all she ever wanted was to give love and be loved.”

According to a GoFundMe, Sasso-Cleveland “was an extremely amazing makeup artist, always on point with her outfits and hair, and she also played the violin.”

“Gracie never meet an animal she didnt love immediately and want to keep,” the fundraiser states. “She was a blessing as a sister, a daughter, and a friend to all.”