'Unconscionable Level Of Depravity:' Last Defendant Sentenced In 2018 Murder

WEST CHICAGO, IL — A former West Chicago man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the "vicious" 2018 murder of Luis Guerrero. Francisco Alvarado, 25, pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Alvarado is the final defendant to be sentenced in the case.

Alvarado, Tia Brewer, Jesus Jurado-Correa and Saul Ruiz, all of West Chicago were arrested in 2018 after firefighters discovered Guerrero's body in a "smoldering fire pit."

According to police, Brewer set up a meeting with Guerrero at West Chicago Public Library after the four had planned to murder him. There, Alvarado attacked him and strangled him with a belt. Brewer and Alvarado then punched and stabbed Guerrero, stole his backpack, put him into their Jeep and drove to the 1300 block of Joliet Street, a news release said.

There, Guerrero was stabbed and beaten before Jurado-Correa gave gasoline to Brewer and Alvarado, who put Guerrero into the fire pit, covered him in gasoline and set him on fire, police say. Guerrero tried to escape, but was again stabbed and beaten by Brewer and Alvarado, who set him on fire again, the news release said. Ruiz is accused of holding down Guerrero while he was being stabbed.

In February, Brewer was also sentenced to 40 years in prison. Ruiz has been senteced to 10 years in prison and Jurado-Correa was sentenced to 15 years.

“Seven years ago, Mr. Alvarado, along with his three defendants, savagely strangled, beat, stabbed and lit Luis Guerrero on fire,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.

Berlin added, “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."