On an early morning in September 2005, a group of Aurora gang members attended a party in the 600 block of Lincoln in Aurora. At that party was 21-year-old George Caro. Quinton C. Moore, one of the gang members, along with co-defendants Juan Vargas, Max M. Aguilar, Ruben Hernandez and Roman Lucio, savagely beat Caro senseless that morning. The gang members then took Caro’s shoes and shirt and left him to die.
Caro’s autopsy revealed 22 injuries to Caro’s head and face and 16 injuries to his upper body and arms, and that Caro died from blunt force trauma.
In March 2023, Judge Flood found Moore guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the beating death. Moore waived his right to a jury trial.
Today it was announced that Judge Elizabeth Flood has sentenced Moore to 38 years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
On the morning of September 4, 2005, members of an Aurora street gang were present at a party in the 600 block of Lincoln Avenue when they encountered 21-year-old George A. Caro of Aurora. After several of the gang members questioned whether Caro was a member of the gang and whether he had cooperated with the police in a murder investigation, they severely kicked and punched him, and beat him with a baseball bat. Moore, along with co-defendants Juan Vargas, Max M. Aguilar, Ruben Hernandez and Roman Lucio participated in the beating.
Vargas, Aguilar, Hernandez and Lucio each was convicted and sentenced to prison in George Caro’s murder.
“This closes the book on Quinton Moore’s long criminal career, ensuring that Aurora will be safer than it was when he roamed the streets,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Mark D. Stajdohar. “It took a long time for everyone responsible for George Caro’s murder to be held accountable, which means many of the individuals who helped bring him justice have moved on or retired. Their work is not forgotten.”
Caro’s murder was indicted in June 2007 as part of a multijurisdictional cold-case investigation dubbed “Operation First Degree Burn.” A special grand jury indicted more than 30 men in 22 cold case homicides investigated by the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Aurora Police Department, the FBI and the Kane County Sheriff’s Office.
