Joliet Killer Who Performed Sex Acts Over Victim's Body Is Mentally Fit To Stand Trial: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — For two years and three months, Joliet first-degree murder defendant Timothy Thurmond has remained in Will County's Jail following the gruesome slaying of Hunter Avenue apartment resident Cynthia "Cindy" Pinnick. The 58-year-old Joliet woman died from 14 stab wounds. A second knife was used to kill her after the handle from the first knife broke, Will County prosecutor Pete Wilkes said in court on Sept. 1, 2023.

The slaying happened on the city's west side in the St. Pat's Area.

According to her obituary from Joliet's Minor-Morris Funeral Home, "Cindy graduated from Joliet East High School in 1982. She was an exciting woman who enjoyed her family, she loved to cook, clean, dance and sing. There was never a dull moment when Cindy was around. Cindy had an overwhelming spirit and she loved everyone and she would tell you quickly how she felt without any judgment. She is loved by many."

In late October, Will County Associate Judge Amy Christiansen issued one of her most important pretrial rulings so far in Thurmond's first-degree murder case. The case came before her on whether Thurmond is mentally fit to stand trial. A fitness hearing was held, and both sides presented their evidence. Judge Christiansen, after taking the evidence under advisement, ruled that Thurmond is mentally fit to stand trial.

The judge also ruled that Dr. Anna Stapleton has the requisite training, education and experience to be called as an expert witness regarding Thurmond's mental competency to stand trial. The judge noted that both sides stipulate that if Dr. Stapleton is ever called to testify, she "would testify consistently with the observations, opinions and conclusions delineated in her October 7, 2025 evaluation."

Timothy Thurmond Touched His Murder Victim Inappropriately: Prosecutors

Thurmond remains in the Will County Jail, and his next pretrial hearing before Judge Christiansen is set for Nov. 21 in Courtroom 402.

During Thurmond's bail hearing, on Sept. 1, 2023, the Will County State's Attorney's Office announced that they were planning to pursue charges of sexual abuse of a corpse. The judge learned from the prosecutor that after Pinnick's slain body was on the floor, Thurmond stood over her, masturbating "on her corpse."

Thurmond also touched the victim inappropriately, Wilkes said, and authorities were trying to determine if that sexual abuse happened before or after Pinnick was dead. However, two years later, Thurmond's criminal charges remain the same: he faces multiple charges of first-degree murder and multiple charges of felon in possession of a deadly weapon.

Back on Sept. 1, 2023, during Thurmond's bail hearing, Prosecutor Wilkes informed the courtroom that Thurmond was interviewed for about eight hours by Joliet police detectives, and he gave three different statements about what happened.

According to Wilkes, Pinnick was the victim of a sex crime. He said Thurmond killed her — back on August 25, 2023, in her apartment in the 200 block of Hunter Avenue — because she continued to reject his sexual advances. Wilkes said Thurmond had even offered to pay her for sex, but she refused.

Neighbors later told Joliet police they had seen Thurmond at Pinnick's apartment unit for the past couple of months.

Family members of the victim found Pinnick's decomposed body a week after her death, according to Wilkes. Joliet police subsequently interviewed several neighbors who heard loud yelling coming from Pinnick's apartment, and they heard her pleading three or four times to stop.

During the violent attack, Wilkes said Thurmond had taken Pinnick out onto her balcony. "This witness, unfortunately, did not call the police," Wilkes said.

The blade of the first steak knife broke off during the stabbing in the victim's living room, and that prompted Thurmond to obtain a bigger knife to continue the killing, Wilkes said. In total, Pinnick suffered 14 stab wounds and two different knives were used.

At first, according to the prosecution, Thurmond maintained to Joliet police detectives, that nothing happened, there was no fight, nothing.

Victim Slain After She Refused To Have Sexual Relations With Him: Prosecutors

In his second statement, Thurmond insisted he and Pinnick were drinking alcohol and smoking crack cocaine and the victim went into her bedroom and was on the phone with someone, Wilkes said. Then, he claimed, Pinnick emerged from her bedroom swinging a knife at Thurmond and attacking him as "she flipped out," causing Thurmond to push her and stab her with a larger second knife, according to Thurmond's statement.

In his third and final story, Wilkes said, Thurmond "admitted that the victim did not have a knife at all" and that he killed her because he wanted to have sexual relations with her, even offering her money, which she turned down.

Because Joliet police detectives arrested Thurmond before the SAFE-T-Act took effect, the Joliet first-degree murder defendant was given a monetary bail of $5 million by Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins.

"Bond will be set in the amount of $5 million, 10 percent," Judge DeWilkins announced back on Sept. 1, 2023.

During Thurmond's bail-bond hearing, the Will County judge learned that Thurmond was on probation for a 2022 Joliet violent crime. In August 2022, Joliet police arrested him on charges of aggravated battery, unlawful restraint, three counts of domestic battery and one count of aggravated assault. In that crime, Thurmond's victim was a different woman, not Pinnick.

According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 7, 2022, Thurmond knowingly held a knife to the neck of the woman and threatened to kill her. Thurmond pulled the woman's hair and grabbed her around the neck. Thurmond also detained her while using his deadly weapon, the knife. The aggravated battery charge noted that Thurmond "used a deadly weapon, a knife, in that said defendant cut (the woman) about the body."

Following the August 2022 arrest. Thurmond's bail was set at $50,000, and he was ordered by a Will County judge to have no further contact with his victim or her residence. By Sept. 30, 2022, Thurmond worked out a plea bargain with Will County's prosecutors. The plea went before Judge Derek Ewanic, who sentenced Thurmond to two years of probation and assessed $1,629 in court costs and probation fees. Thurmond pleaded guilty to the crimes of domestic battery and aggravated unlawful restraint.

Judge Ewanic ordered him to serve 55 days in the Will County Jail, giving him credit for the 55 days of incarceration that Thurmond already served. Thurmond was also ordered to complete a qualified domestic violence program and have no contact with his victim.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

• 14 Stab Wounds, Joliet Woman's Corpse Sexually Abused: Prosecutor
• Necrophilia Suspect's 2022 Crime Put Him On Probation