40 years for man who beat, stabbed, strangled and burned West Chicago teen to death
The last defendant has been sentenced in a horrifying murder case where a West Chicago teen was beaten, strangled, stabbed, run over and set on fire seven years ago.
Francisco Alvarado, 25, of West Chicago, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday. He had pleaded guilty in November 2022 to first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Prosecutors had asked for a 65-year sentence.
In 2018, Alvarado, Tia Brewer, 23; Jesus Jurado-Correa, 25; and Saul Ruiz, 24; were charged in the death of 18-year-old Luis Guerrero.
West Chicago firefighters saw a smoldering object in a firepit around 11:30 a.m. Aug. 14, 2018, in a lot at 1325 Joliet St. They discovered it was a body covered by a wooden picnic table.
Authorities say all four defendants had planned the murder for about a month. On Aug. 14, Brewer arranged to meet Guerrero outside the West Chicago Public Library. Alvarado attacked him from behind and strangled him with a belt around Guerrero’s neck.
Alvarado and Brewer then stabbed and punched Guerrero, stole his backpack and put him in a Jeep Cherokee.
At the lot, Guerrero begged to be taken to a hospital, authorities said. But Correa arrived with a container of gasoline after Guerrero was unconscious. Brewer and Alvarado poured it on Guerrero and lit him on fire. Guerrero started running away, but Alvarado and Brewer stabbed and beat him, ran him over with the Cherokee, dragged him back to the fire pit and lit him on fire again.
Authorities said Alvarado and Brewer were linked romantically, and that Brewer told police she attacked Guerrero because he had sexually assaulted her. Police say no assault was reported.
Alvarado said he was meeting with Guerrero to buy a phone, and that Guerrero attacked him. Alvarado’s family contacted police after finding blood inside the Jeep.
Judge Brian Telander sentenced Alvarado to 34 years on the murder charge and six years on the kidnapping charge, to be served consecutively. He will have to serve all the time on the murder charge, and 85% of the time on the kidnapping charge, before being eligible for parole.
He received credit for the seven years he has spent in the DuPage County jail awaiting trial.
Brewer pleaded guilty to the same charges as Alvarado and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Jurado-Correa and Ruiz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and in exchange for their cooperation in prosecuting Brewer and Alvarado, were sentenced to 15 years and 10 years, respectively.