Police: 21-Year-Old Woodridge Man Murdered Father With Weed Trimmer

Updated: 5:45 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15

A judge granted the state's motion for an appointment of a clinical psychologist in Monday's bond court hearing for the Woodridge man whom police say killed his father with a weed trimmer.

Yashesh S. Desai, 21, of 3 Plover Court, Woodridge, has been charged with first-degree murder. Desai's bond was set at $2 million during Monday's hearing, said DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin.

Berlin said Yashesh Desai talked about Godzilla, X and Y chromosomes and "killing the retards" in statements to police. Those statements led authorities to file a motion for an appointment of a clinical psychologist.

"We have reasonable belief he will raise the defense of insanity or plead guilty and mentally ill," Berlin said.

A clinical psychologist will deem whether Yashesh Desai is fit for trial. A status check date will be held Aug. 22, scheduled to be followed by his arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12.

 responded to the scene around 3:07 a.m. Sunday morning after a person had called 911 stating that his brother had just killed their father, according to a release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

Police found Sanjiv J. Desai lying on a futon in the computer room of his house, the release said.

"Desai was suffering from massive head wounds. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead as a result of the injuries he sustained," the release said.

Sanjiv Desai was allegedly sleeping on a futon in the computer room of his home when Yashesh Desai struck him multiple times in the head with a weed trimmer, the release said. That resulted in severe trauma to Sanjiv Desai’s head.

Woodridge police arrested Yashesh Desai at the scene of the incident.

“Yesterday, Sanjiv Desai’s life was tragically taken from him, allegedly by his own son,” Berlin said Monday in the release. “I would like to thank the Woodridge Police Department for their quick apprehension of Mr. Desai. I would also like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Helen Kapas for her efforts on this case."

First-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of 20 to 60 years in jail. Desai is scheduled to appear in bond court at 4 p.m. Monday.

Just hours before police found Sanjiv Desai dead, a Facebook user registered as Yashesh Sanjiv Desai published dozens of comments on his page, including a list of weapons he said he needed and another post in which he said he'd "lost faith in humanity."

He posted close to 40 statuses in as many minutes between around 4:40 p.m. and 5:20 p.m.

According to Facebook, he graduated from and studies chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

Neighbors along Plover Court said the Desai family was a friendly neighbor and said it was an "unfortunate thing."

Richard Barker, 15, used to play basketball with Yashesh and Yashesh's younger brother. He said they were "nice, friendly and normal."

Barker said he was awake around 3 a.m. Saturday when he heard "get down on the ground" yelled outside. He saw Yashesh being brought out in handcuffs and his father being brought out on a stretcher.

For those reading this outside of the Chicago area, Woodridge is a southwest suburb of Chicago.