Oswego man convicted in 2017 Aurora double murder
A Kane County jury on Monday convicted an Oswego man for the March 2017 murders of two men in Aurora.
The jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Serafin A. Castellanos, 42, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery, and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Castellanos was accused of shooting 35-year-old Jermaine Taylor around 1 a.m. March 10, 2017, outside the Flama de Oro restaurant and bar, 746 S. Lincoln Ave. Authorities say he then ran off east on Simms Street.
He turned and fired eight more shots at the restaurant's door as patrons were leaving because the bar was closing for the night. One of the bullets struck 57-year-old Anselmo Fernandez. A third victim was shot in the face while in their car, suffering a permanent eye injury.
Taylor and Fernandez were pronounced dead at a hospital.
Castellanos faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, because he was convicted of two murders.
He has been held on $5 million bail at the Kane County jail since his arrest in late January 2018. His bail was revoked Monday.
In an application for a search warrant in 2018, Aurora police said Castellanos and another man were seen shooting into a car on Simms, around the corner from the bar entrance. Police recognized Castellanos from the bar's security video. Police wrote they believe the two were targeting someone.
Officers testified at a bail-reduction hearing that Castellanos was the leader of a gang faction. They also testified he was involved in a car chase and shooting in October 2017 that ended when two people died after crashing into a truck near I-88 and Orchard Road on Aurora's northwest side.
Police said a search of Castellanos' Facebook account and messages showed he posted a video of the wreckage and mocked a rival gang that two of its members were dead.
Castellanos lived on the 100 block of Eisenhower Lane. His next court date is Feb. 22.