A judge on Wednesday handed down a 19-year prison sentence to McHenry County’s most wanted fugitive after he was captured while on the run for nearly 20 years after a brutal murder in Harvard.
Roberto Valdez-Calixto, now 46, formerly of Harvard, was indicted by a grand jury in March 2005 on four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of mob action.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court said that Valdez-Calixto, who was 25 at the time, murdered Cecilio Hernandez in Harvard on February 19, 2005.
Valdez-Calixto stabbed Hernandez and struck him in the head with a beer bottle, leaving him dead, the complaint said.
The complaint said Valdez-Calixto acted together with Marciano Valdez, Juan Rivera-Garcia and Jose Santos Valdez-Calixto in the murder.
McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney William Bruce called the murder “brutal” and said Hernandez suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma in the “vicious mob action beating.”
A fight broke out between the four suspects, who were armed with weapons, and another group while they were at a residence in the 100 block of East Park Street in Harvard.
A neighbor witnessed Hernandez being held down by a suspect while two others made “punching or thrusting movements” into the victim’s chest, Bruce said.
Hernandez was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his stab wounds to the chest and other areas of his body, along with blunt force trauma to the head. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Bruce said officers arrested Valdez, Rivera-Garcia and Santos Valdez-Calixto shortly after the incident but Valdez-Calixto escaped the area on foot.
Valdez-Calixto fled to Mexico after the Harvard murder, Bruce said.
Prosecutors said Valdez-Calixto and his co-defendants went to the home in Harvard to drink with the residents before an argument ensued and the physical fight broke out.
Prosecutors said it remains unclear which of the four actually stabbed Hernandez but all of them were charged with his murder under the principle of accountability.
An arrest warrant carrying a $1 million bond was issued for Valdez-Calixto and the man was eventually placed on the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office’s fugitive list as their number one most wanted.
In 2008, federal authorities issued an arrest warrant for Valdez-Calixto and said in court documents that he traveled out of the area on March 22, 2005, to avoid prosecution for his charges.
Valdez-Calixto remained in Mexico until his arrest in October 2023, Bruce said. He was extradited to the United States in March 2024.
Jail records show Valdez-Calixto was taken into the custody of the McHenry County Jail on March 11, 2024.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Valdez-Calixto pending trial, calling him a real and present danger to the community as well as a flight risk.
McHenry County Judge Christopher Harmon granted the petition during a court hearing and remanded Valdez-Calixto to the McHenry County Jail.
The judge said at that time that Valdez-Calixto poses a real and present risk of willful flight and that he would still be in Mexico if not for his arrest and extradition to the United States.
Court records show Valdez-Calixto reached a negotiated plea deal with the state’s attorney’s office this week.
He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of second-degree murder, a Class 1 felony, in exchange for his more serious charge of first-degree murder being dismissed.
McHenry County Judge Justin Hansen sentenced Valdez-Calixto to 19 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections pursuant to the agreement.
Valdez-Calixto will receive 856 days of credit for time served while awaiting trial. He is awaiting transfer to a state prison.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said she commends the work of the Harvard Police Department and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation and “applauds the efforts to hold the last of the offenders to this crime accountable.”
“I am incredibly proud of my office and our law enforcement partners from Harvard and the Sheriff’s Office in bringing this last offender to justice. Despite the twenty years that had passed, our office immediately began tracking down retired law enforcement, witnesses that had moved, and compiled evidence to ensure we would still prevail should the matter have proceeded to trial,” Freese said after sentencing Wednesday.
“While it is commonly known that time usually works against us, Valdez-Calixto was sentenced to a term longer than the co-defendants who were sentenced decades before him. That is a testament to the incredible work and team effort it took to resolve this last offender. We continue to extend our sympathies to the victim’s family for their loss and hope that there will be some sense of closure now that the last of the offenders is in custody,” she added.