SUV Ran Over Murder Victim Outside Joliet Bar: Prosecutor

JOLIET, IL — Monday's early morning bar fight inside Joliet's Spanish American Club resulted in Joliet's second homicide by motor vehicle in 2022, according to Joliet police. On Thursday afternoon, 30-year-old first-degree murder defendant Jose Aguilar-Moreno appeared over a Will County Jail video monitor for his bond hearing.

A foreign language interpreter appeared in Will County Courtroom 202 to translate the comments of Will County Judge Fred Harvey and Assistant Will County State's Attorney Jeffrey Tuminello for Aguilar-Moreno, who lived in an apartment in the 500 block of Francis Street.

Judge Harvey agreed with Tuminello's request for a $2 million bail in the homicide of Jorge Chiguil-Toto, 40. He was one of two men who got stabbed inside the east side bar.

According to Tuminello, Chiguil-Toto suffered stab wounds while breaking up a fist fight and trying to remove Aguilar-Moreno from the bar at 413 Meeker Ave., near Collins Street.

"Video surveillance in the bar shows the defendant stab the victim with a knife," Tuminello told the courtroom.

The 40-year-old knife victim exited the bar, bleeding, and tried resting his body against the building. The prosecutor said that Aguilar-Moreno ran outside to his sport utility vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder, "running over the victim."

The victim was rushed by ambulance to Silver Cross Hospital, where he died. The second person who was stabbed in the bar did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

According to bond hearing testimony, Joliet police impounded Aguilar-Moreno's SUV and learned it was "covered in blood.

Aguilar-Moreno was taken into custody on Tuesday and interviewed about the city's latest homicide. He now faces two counts of first-degree murder.

"The defendant admitted to being in a fight at the Spanish American Center and driving away after the fight," Tuminello revealed in court.

Judge Harvey learned that the homicide victim did not die as a direct result of the stab wounds.

"We believe the cause of death was both stab wounds and the vehicle," the prosecutor announced.

Harvey set Aguilar-Moreno's next hearing for Nov. 17 in Courtroom 405 of Will County Judge Dave Carlson. A public defender was appointed to represent Aguilar-Moreno.

It's the second homicide this year in Joliet to involve a victim who was hit by a vehicle. Back in March, Joliet police detectives determined that D'Kiva Jones, who lives in Crest Hill, used her Ford Escape to run over Derek Walsh, killing the 39-year-old Joliet man in a parking lot in the 1100 block of Plainfield Road on a Monday afternoon in broad daylight.

Joliet police said Walsh and Jones were past acquaintances and that she intentionally drove over him. After driving over Walsh, Jones sped away from the crime scene, and Joliet police tracked her down later that night, police have said.

Jones has remained in the Will County Jail, also facing a $2 million bail, since Joliet police arrested her on March 23.

Related Patch story: Joliet Murder Defendant D'Kiva Jones Hires Joliet Attorney