A 25-year-old West Chicago man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the savage murder of an 18-year-old West Chicago man in 2018.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced Tuesday that Judge Brian Telander sentenced Francisco Alvarado to forty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) for his role in the 2018 murder of Luis Guerrero, 18, of West Chicago. Alvarado had previously entered a plea of guilty to one count of First-Degree Murder and one count of Aggravated Kidnapping (Class X Felony).
Alvarado is the last of four individuals charged in the murder to be sentenced. On February 4, 2025, Judge Telander sentenced co-defendant Tia Brewer, 23, formerly of Wheaton, to forty years in the IDOC after Brewer had previously entered a plea of guilty to the same charges as Alvarado. Co-defendants Jesus Jurado-Correa, 25 and Saul Ruiz, 24, both formerly of West Chicago, each entered a plea of guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder, a Class1 Felony, and in exchange for their cooperation, were sentenced to fifteen years in the IDOC and ten years in the IDOC respectively.
The State had asked for a sentence of 65 years in the IDOC.
According to police, on August 14, 2018, at approximately 11:30am, while conducting a nearby training exercise personnel with the West Chicago Fire Department observed a smoldering object in a fire pit located at 1325 Joliet Street in West Chicago. Upon further examination, they discovered the object to be a human body, later identified as Guerrero.
An investigation quickly led authorities to Alvarado, Brewer, Correa, and Ruiz. The investigation found that all four defendants had planned the murder of Guerrero for approximately one month and that in the early morning hours of August 14, Brewer arranged to meet Guerrero at the West Chicago Public Library. At the library, Alvarado ambushed Guerrero from behind and strangled him with a belt around his neck. Alvarado and Brewer then began stabbing and punching Guerrero. After stealing Guerrero’s backpack, Alvarado and Brewer loaded him into their Jeep Cherokee, traveled to the location on Joliet Street and removed Guerrero from the Jeep. They stabbed and beat Guerrero as he begged to be taken to a hospital. The investigation further 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 then poured the gasoline onto Guerrero and then lit him on fire. While on fire, Guerrero got up and began to run away at which time Alvarado and Brewer stabbed and beat him. Alvarado and Brewer dragged Guerrero back to the fire pit, threw Guerrero into the pit and lit him on fire again.
“Seven years ago, Mr. Alvarado, along with his three defendants, savagely strangled, beat, stabbed and lit Luis Guerrero on fire,” Berlin said. “With thirty-seven years 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. While those who loved Luis are left with the void of his absence, I wish them peace through strength and as they continue their lives with just his memory to see them through.
Judge Telander sentenced Alvarado to thirty-four years in the IDOC on the murder charge to be served at 100% and six years in the IDOC on Aggravated Kidnapping charge to be served at 85%. The sentences will be served consecutively.
