Two guilty in Aurora murder

Two Aurora men were convicted Friday in the 2005 beating death of 21-year-old Jorge Caro.

Max M. Aguilar, 18, and Ruben Hernandez, 25, each were found guilty of first-degree murder by Kane County Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon.

Prosecutors said Aguilar and Hernandez encountered Caro early Sept. 4, 2005, at a party attended by street gang members on the 900 block of Wennamacher Street, Aurora.

After Caro "falsely implied" membership in the gang, several people responded by beating him with their fists, feet and a baseball bat. He was targeted also because he had cooperated with police investigating a 2003 murder, prosecutors said.

Caro received several blows to the head in the five-minute beating and died of blunt force trauma.

Aguilar and Hernandez, who were among five men charged in connection with the killing, each face 20 to 60 years in prison at sentencing March 12.

In January, another Aurora man charged in the case, Roman Lucio, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and was sentenced to 26 years in prison. The other cases are pending.