West Chicago's 'heart aches' for victim of 'brutal, heinous' killing Luis Guerrero, 18, of West Chicago, was killed Monday evening in a case authorities described as "brutal and heinous." Three teens have been charged in connection with his murder. Courtesy of ABC 7 CHICAGO Francisco Alvarado, 18, of West Chicago; Tia Brewer, 16, of an unincorporated area near Wheaton; and Jesus Jurado Correa, 18, of West Chicago, have been charged in the murder of Luis Guerrero, 18, of West Chicago. Alvarado and Brewer are charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and concealment of a homicidal death; Jurado Correa is charged with concealment of a homicidal death. Police continue to piece together the backgrounds of the teenagers accused of strangling, stabbing, burning and running over another teen and then hiding his death, while the West Chicago community rocked by the crime begins to recover. Counselors at West Chicago Community High School District 94 and in West Chicago Elementary District 33 are helping students process the Monday evening death of 18-year-old Luis Guerrero, a recent high school graduate whom former teachers and friends remembered fondly on a GoFundMe page set up to help cover his funeral costs. "My heart aches for the Guerrero family," his former teacher at Leman Middle School, Patricia Macko, wrote on the page. "Luis was my student in eighth grade and was a kind, caring young man." "I always thought that he was really well-spoken," said recent West Chicago High School graduate Gracie Vanco of Winfield, who had an honors English class with Guerrero. "He seemed really well-liked, too. He seemed to have a lot of friends." Many of the same peers who went to school with Guerrero also attended with suspects Francisco Alvarado and Jesus Jurado Correa, both 18 of West Chicago and 2018 graduates of the high school, and Tia R. Brewer, 16, of an unincorporated area near Wheaton, who was beginning her junior year. School officials said Alvarado and Correa both played football at the high school, and Correa also participated in track. The school website showed Brewer was named to the ninth-grade honor roll the second semester of her freshman year for earning a minimum GPA of 4.0 on a weighted scale, with no grades lower than a "C." None of the defendants has any prior criminal offenses documented in DuPage County Court records. Alvarado and Brewer have been charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and concealment of a homicidal death and are held without bail. Despite her age, Brewer is charged as an adult. Both could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted. Correa has been charged with concealment of a homicidal death. West Chicago police Cmdr. Julio Calabrese said Friday police believe none of the suspects was involved with a gang. He said officers continue to investigate their backgrounds to determine any past police contact with them or their families, but he could not release any further investigative details. Calabrese and Paul Darrah, spokesman for DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, said no federal or outside agencies are involved with the case. Now that charges have been filed, Darrah said, Supreme Court rules prohibit him or anyone with the state's attorney's office from revealing details about the suspects' family history, citizenship status, criminal history, drug use or other personal factors because these facts could be prejudicial to future prospective jurors who could be called to hear the case. The case involves what authorities described as a "brutal and heinous" attack, in which Alvarado and Brewer are accused of strangling Guerrero with a belt, stabbing him 16 times, lighting him on fire, running him over with a Jeep SUV, then leaving him to die in a fire pit in a West Chicago field. Correa is accused of joining Alvarado and Brewer in the field near Alvarado's house and receiving a $200 payment in exchange for delivering them a water bottle full of gasoline. The motive is unclear. Authorities said Brewer told police the attack was retribution because Guerrero sexually assaulted her; but police say they have no record of such a crime being reported. Alvarado told police he was meeting Guerrero to buy a cellphone when Guerrero opened a knife and a fight ensued. Days after Guerrero's death, his family sought donations to cover his funeral costs via a GoFundMe page, which had collected $10,047 of a $4,000 goal as of Friday afternoon. A wake for Guerrero is scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday at DuPage Cremations & Memorial Chapel, 951 W. Washington St., West Chicago. A funeral Mass is set for 1 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mary Catholic Church, 140 N. Oakwood Ave., West Chicago. "I have always referred to Luis as an old soul," Mary Roley, a counselor in college planning at West Chicago High, wrote on the GoFundMe page. "He was brave in that he never feared letting us see his heart. He left his heart-print on many of us." Staff writer Madhu Krishnamurthy contributed to this report<doc-sep>CHICAGO (CBS) — The body of Luis Guerrero was found by firefighters conducting a training exercise in West Chicago Tuesday. The body was found strangled, stabbed, lit on fire, and then run over with a Jeep. CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar reports the horrific final moments for a Chicago teen, police say, killed by peers his own age. Friends of Guerrero say he moved to West Chicago from Mexico in fifth grade. They describe him as a good friend and student. “I’m extremely sad to know that he had to suffer so much because he was burned alive,” said Jose Ramirez, a friend of Guerrero. Police say 18-year-old Francisco Alvarado and 16-year-old Tia Brewer, a former girlfriend, met the victim at the library where the pair allegedly strangled Guerrero with a belt, stabbed him several times in the neck, and then drove him to the field. Jesus Correa was also charged. “I was honestly completely shocked. I couldn’t stop shaking,” Ramirez said when he found out what happened to his friend. Investigators say Guerrero was doused in gasoline, provided by Correa, and set on fire. In a struggle for his life, Guerrero tried running away, but Alvarado and Brewer allegedly ran him over in a Jeep Cherokee, returning Guerrero to the fire pit, under a bench, and once again igniting his body on fire. Police focused much of their attention on the jeep Tuesday. “Why? How did they do something like that when he was only a young boy? I mean he was only a young boy,” said neighbor Marilyn Earley. “I’m shaking inside all over. I can’t believe people could do something like that.” Brewer told police she was sexually assaulted by Guerrero when they dated and this was payback. “There’s no way Louis did that. That’s not my friend, you know?” said Guerrero’s friend Brandon Magana. The state’s attorney say they have no record of a sexual assault complaint by Brewer. Brewer and Alvarado were found in a Chicago motel with alleged murder weapons and plans to flee. All three made their first court appearance Thursday. RELATED ARTICLES: Burning Body Found In Field During Firefighter Training Drill<doc-sep>
West Chicago firefighters made a gruesome discovery in a field during a training exercise earlier this week, the Daily Herald reported. They found the body of 18-year-old Luis Guerrero on Tuesday near Wheaton, Illinois. Guerrero had been strangled, stabbed, run over by a vehicle, and set on fire, authorities said at a news conference Thursday. "The vicious brutality allegedly displayed by the defendants in this case is beyond imagination. I can’t begin to fathom the pain that Mr. Guerrero must have endured as his life was brutally taken from him. I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to Mr. Guerrero’s surviving family and friends on the loss of Mr. Guerrero,” DuPage County prosecutor Robert Berlin said at the news conference. Authorities charged two teen suspects with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and concealment of a homicidal death, according to a news release. A third suspect has been charged with concealment of homicidal death. What's the story? On Tuesday, Francisco Alvarado, 18, and Tia Brewer, 16, allegedly met Guerrero near the West Chicago Public Library. Brewer was a former girlfriend of the victim, according to authorities. Alvarado allegedly came up from behind Guerrero and strangled him with a belt. At about the same time, both Alvarado and Brewer stabbed the teen numerous times in the neck and back, Berlin said at the news conference. Brewer and Alvarado told police they are dating each other. At that point, authorities believe the pair placed Guerrero into their Jeep Cherokee and drove to a field. Then they contacted the third suspect, Jesus Correa, 18, and asked him to bring them some gasoline. Correa allegedly brought the gasoline and left the scene. The pair then doused Guerrero in gasoline and set him on fire. Guerrero reportedly got up and tried to run away, but Alvarado and Brewer got in the jeep and ran over him with the vehicle. They allegedly drug his body back to a fire pit where they lit his body on fire again and put a picnic table on top of him, according to the news release. How did the police find the suspects? Family members of one of the suspects alerted police with information that led them to a motel where Alvarado and Brewer were hiding and preparing to flee, according to officials. Police found the murder weapons in the motel with the suspects. What else? The suspects told Correa that the murder had been planned, according to statements made to the police, Berlin said. Brewer claimed she had been previously sexually assaulted by Guerrero and this was "payback," WBBM-TV reported, but the state's attorney found no records of a complaint. The three defendants are expected in court Sept. 13.