Appeals Court Upholds Murder Conviction in 2009 Shooting Death

The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office released the following information Friday: 

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced today that the Second District Appellate Court has affirmed the First Degree Murder conviction of Luis Villavicencio-Serna, 23 (d.o.b. 9/8/1990) for the 2009 murder of Armando Huerta, Jr., 18, of Addison.

On March 22, 2012, following a seven-day long trial, a jury found Villavicencio-Serna guilty of First Degree Murder. On June 12, 2012, Judge Daniel Guerin sentenced Villavicencio-Serna to 50 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.


In the early morning hours of May 16, 2009, Huerta and an acquaintance of his were outside Huerta’s apartment building located in the 300 block of Dale Drive.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., Villavicencio-Serna shot Huerta with a .22 caliber handgun from a moving vehicle. Huerta was hit in the leg and back and died several hours later as a result of the shooting.

An investigation into the murder revealed that Villavicencio-Serna killed Huerta because he had been in contact with Villavicencio-Serna’s girlfriend. Villavicencio-Serna was arrested the following day while at work without incident.
             

In his appeal, Villavicencio-Serna argued that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Villavicencio-Serna also argued that the trial court erred in allowing certain taped statements to be presented as substantive evidence.

In their decision, the Appellate Court found that a jury’s verdict is “entitled to great deference” and therefore the Appellate Court “will not disturb a jury’s verdict unless the evidence is so unsatisfactory as to raise a reasonable doubt regarding a defendant’s guilt.”

The court further stated that testimony provided during the trial “provided an adequate and rational basis for the jury’s verdict.”

Regarding Villavicencio-Serna’s argument concerning the admissibility of statements, the Appellate Court decided that the defendant “has not convinced us that the statements at issue here were not admissible … or that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the statements in their entirety.”
             

“I would like to thank the Appellate Court for their extremely thoughtful and thorough review of this case,” Berlin said. “Nearly five years ago, Luis Villavicencio-Serna killed Armando Huerta in cold blood.

The evidence of Villavicencio-Serna’s guilt was overwhelming and the Appellate Court agreed that he received a fair trial.

With this Appellate Court’s decision firmly placing the blame on Villavicencio-Serna, it is my sincerest hope that those who loved Armando will be able to close this horrible chapter in their lives knowing that Luis Villavicencio-Serna will spend the next 50 years of his life behind bars for the murder of Armando Huerta.”
               

Justice Hudson delivered the judgment of the Court with Justices McLaren and Jorgensen concurring.