:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/GV7HQ5L5OQOSJJGE5OZAQDW53M.jpg)
A former West Chicago man was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison for his role in the 2018 murder of Luis Guerrero, 18, of West Chicago.
Francisco Alvarado, 25, is the last of four individuals involved in the murder to be sentenced.
Guerrero was kidnapped, strangled, beaten, stabbed and set on fire in an incident that began when he was ambushed at the West Chicago Public Library, authorities said.
On Nov. 9, 2022, in exchange for his cooperation, Alvarado plead guilty to one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.
The state had asked for a 65-year sentence.
On Feb. 4, co-defendant Tia Brewer, 23, formerly of Wheaton, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after she had previously entered a guilty plea to the same charges as Alvarado.
Co-defendants Jesus Jurado-Correa, 25, and Saul Ruiz, 24, both formerly of West Chicago, each plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In exchange for their cooperation, were sentenced to 16 years and 10 years, respectively, according to the release,
About 11:30 a.m. Aug. 14, 2018, while conducting a nearby training exercise, West Chicago firefighters saw a smoldering object in a fire pit located at 1325 Joliet St.
Fire personnel discovered the object to be a human body, later identified as Guerrero. An investigation led authorities to Alvarado, Brewer, Correa and Ruiz.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 14, Brewer arranged to meet Guerrero at the West Chicago Public Library. He ambushed Guerrero from behind and strangled him with a belt around his neck. Alvarado and Brewer then began stabbing and punching Guerrero, according to the release.
After stealing Guerrero’s backpack, Alvarado and Brewer put him into their Jeep Cherokee, traveled to the location on Joliet Street and removed Guerrero from the Jeep. They stabbed and beat him as he begged to be taken to a hospital, authorities said.
An investigation found that Correa arrived at the fire pit with a container of gasoline after Guerrero was unconscious. Correa gave the container of gasoline to Alvarado and Brewer who poured it onto Guerrero and lit him on fire, according to the release.
While on fire, Guerrero got up and began to run away at which time Alvarado and Brewer stabbed and beat him before dragging him back to the fire pit. They threw Guerrero into the pit and lit him on fire again, authorities said.
The four defendants had planned the murder of Guerrero for approximately one month, authorities said.
“Seven years ago, Mr. Alvarado, along with his three defendants, savagely strangled, beat, stabbed and lit Luis Guerrero on fire,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “With 37 as a prosecutor under my belt, I had always thought I had seen the worst of the worst.
“On August 18, 2018, however, I was proven wrong. The unconscionable level of depravity exhibited by Mr. Alvarado and his co-defendants, as they murdered an innocent young man, is unimaginable. With today’s sentencing, the final chapter in the prosecution of those responsible for the gruesome murder of Luis is now complete.”
Alvarado was sentenced to 34 years in on the murder charge to be served at 100% and six years on aggravated kidnapping charge to be served at 85%. The sentences will be served consecutively.