Bail has been set at $5 million for an Oswego man charged with four first-degree murder counts for allegedly firing the shots that killed two men and seriously injured a third last March outside a bar on Aurora ‘s Near South East Side.
Serafin Castellanos, 38, of the 100 block of Eisenhower Lane, is also charged with single counts of attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with the triple shooting outside La Flama de Oro, a restaurant and bar on the 700 block of South Lincoln Avenue, according to Kane County court records.
Castellanos was booked Wednesday in the Kane County jail, and is next due in court Feb. 15.
Police said Castellanos shot and killed Jermaine P. Taylor, 35, of the 900 block of Edgelawn Avenue, and Anselmo V. Fernandez, 57, of the 500 block of North View Street.
The shooting also caused a 37-year-old man a permanent injury to one of his eyes, police said.
All three were Aurora residents.
The shooting took place amid the final stages of renovations to the restaurant, in the name of improving its image.
At 12:50 a.m. March 10, as La Flama’s bar was closing, Castellanos approached Taylor as he was about to get into a vehicle after leaving the business, police said in a statement.
Police said Castellanos shot Taylor “multiple” times, then fired several more shots while running away.
One bullet struck Fernandez, who was standing in the entryway to the bar.
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Another struck the third man while he was sitting in a vehicle, police said.
Several La Flama workers called in the shooting. Aurora Fire Department paramedics took all three men to Aurora hospitals, where Taylor and Fernandez were both pronounced dead shortly after arrival, police said.
Police said they have theories, but detectives have not identified a definite motive for the shooting.
Police do still believe Taylor was targeted, as they indicated early on.
Police last year told The Beacon-News it appeared Fernandez was “tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Following the shooting, Fernandez’s daughters talked about how he’d changed since his release from an Illinois prison five years earlier, saying he’d become a vital part of their lives.
Lately, he’d been a loving father, doting grandfather, talented artisan and outgoing character who freely dispensed advice in hopes of deterring others from traveling in his steps, they said.
Police said information they received from the public was “instrumental” in securing the charges against Castellanos, which were filed Tuesday. The U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force had been conducting surveillance on Castellanos, and saw him leave his home and get into a vehicle Tuesday. They stopped the vehicle and took him into custody without incident, according to police.
Castellanos was previously sentenced to seven years in state prison for marijuana dealing, a felony case charged in 2005.
Taylor had also been convicted of drug-related crimes, most recently pleading guilty to felony cocaine possession in 2013.
Fernandez was paroled Sept. 16, 2011, and discharged from the Illinois Department of Corrections on Sept. 18, 2014, after a 40-year concurrent sentence for attempted murder, armed robbery and aggravated battery.
Police said they’re continuing to investigate the shooting and haven’t ruled out the involvement of additional people. They’re continuing to ask anyone with information to call investigators at 630-256-5500 or Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000.