(Initial press release issued by DuPage County on Friday, February 3, 2023)
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that Juan Calderon, 25 (d.o.b. 9/27/1997) formerly of Aurora, was sentenced to fifty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) for the killing of twenty-six-year-old West Chicago resident Alexander Nicolas in November, 2018. Today’s sentence follows a three-day double-jury trial held in September of last year against Calderon and his co-defendant Emilio Guillen, 32 (d.o.b. 1/28/1991) formerly of Rockford. On November 17, 2022, Guillen was sentenced to fifty years in the IDOC for the murder. Both men were held in custody at the DuPage County Jail since the murder on bonds of $4 million with 10% to apply for Calderon and $2 million with 10% to apply for Guillen. The bonds for both men were revoked following the guilty verdicts.
On November 9, 2018, at approximately 7:34 a.m., West Chicago police responded to a 911 call of a man found lying on the ground in the 600 block of E. Forest Avenue. Upon their arrival, officers found the victim, Nicolas, lying face up with blood coming from the back of his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The West Chicago Police Department, with assistance from the Major Crimes Task Force, immediately initiated an investigation. Through their investigation, authorities learned that at approximately 11:19 p.m., the previous night, Nicolas was near his vehicle on E. Forest Avenue when he was approached by Calderon and Guillen. The two men physically attacked and ultimately shot Nicolas in the head with Guillen giving the order to shoot Nicolas and that upon receiving the order, Calderon shooting Nicolas in the head. After killing Nicolas, the men got into Guillen’s car and fled the scene. The investigation led to Guillen and Calderon as the men responsible for the murder.
“In November 2018, Juan Calderon and Emilio Guillen viciously beat Alexander Nicolas before shooting him in the back of the head,” Berlin said. “These two men violently took the life of another man because they believed he belonged to a rival gang. At trial, two independent juries rightfully found both men guilty of murder. Decades behind bars however, cannot bring Alexander back to those who loved him. This senseless murder has forever changed the lives of Alexander’s family and friends and I offer my condolences to them on their loss. I thank the West Chicago Police Department for their truly outstanding work on this case. I also thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Kristin Sullivan, Matthew Dambach, Christina Kye and Jim Scaliatine for their teamwork and the enormous amount of time and effort they have devoted to the pursuit of justice in the name of Alexander Nicolas.”
Both Calderon and Guillen are required to serve 100% of their sentence before being eligible for parole.