Addison man gets 25 years for second-degree murder

An Addison man was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison after entering a plea of guilty to two counts of second degree murder.

Jorge L. Vargas, 23, formerly of Valerie Lane, appeared in court in front of Judge George Bakalis, who accepted Vargas’ plea.

Vargas has been in custody at the DuPage County Jail since the May 2017 murders on a bond of $4 million.

On May 6, 2017, at approximately 1:14 p.m., Addison police responded to a call of shots fired at the intersection of Elizabeth Drive and Denise Court. Upon their arrival, police found a vehicle crashed into a tree on the southwest corner of the intersection, according to a DuPage County State's Attorney's Office news release.

Two male victims, Alberto Rios, 20, of Villa Park, and Kevin Bustos, 17, of Addison, were discovered unresponsive in the vehicle. Both men were transported to local hospitals where they were both pronounced deceased from gunshot wounds, the release stated.

An investigation into the murders found that prior to the shooting, Rios went to an apartment nearby where Vargas was and that he and Vargas got into a verbal altercation. The investigation also revealed that prior to the shooting, Rios fired a gun into the air and approached the main entrance to the apartment before leaving the scene, according to the release.

Additionally, the investigation revealed that after leaving, Rios left a threatening message on a mutual acquaintance’s phone that he was going to return to the apartment and kill everyone. Approximately 20 to 30 minutes later, Rios returned to the apartment in a car driven by Bustos.

Upon their return, Vargas was waiting at a window on the third floor of the apartment building. Gunfire was exchanged by Vargas and Rios resulting in the death of both Rios and Bustos. Vargas was located just outside East St. Louis and returned to DuPage County where he appeared in bond court on May 9, 2017, the release stated.

“This morning, Jorge Vargas took responsibility for the murder of Alberto Rios and Kevin Bustos,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release “Following his plea, Judge Bakalis sentenced Mr. Vargas to twelve-and-one-half years behind bars for each murder.”

Vargas received a twelve-and-a-half-year sentence on each count of second degree murder. The sentences will be served consecutively resulting in the 25-year sentence.