Joliet man found guilty in 2001 slaying

July 2

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a jury late Thursday (July 1, 2010) found a Joliet man guilty of murder in the 2001 slaying of 24-year-old Darnell Washington.

The jury found Paul Quintero, 33, guilty of shooting Washington multiple times in the side of his face on November 2, 2001. The victim’s body was discovered on the side of Farrell Road near U.S. 6. A sport utility vehicle Washington had been driving the evening he was killed had been torched and was found near McDonough Street and Joyce Road.

Quintero is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 1. The only possible penalty under the law is natural life in prison. 

Quintero currently is serving a 38-year prison sentence for the 2000 shooting death of Michael Ceja in Joliet. The Ceja murder was still under investigation when Quintero killed Washington in November 2001. State’s Attorney Glasgow obtained a murder indictment against Quintero in 2006 in the Washington case. The prior state’s attorney had refused to prosecute Quintero for the Washington murder. 

Glasgow praised Assistant State’s Attorneys Jim Long and Adam Capelli for their skillful trial work.

“It took years of hard work on the part of law enforcement to bring Paul Quintero to justice for this brutal murder,” Glasgow said. “It is my sincere hope that the Washington family will finally find closure and rest assured that their son’s murderer will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

Washington was driving a sport utility vehicle in which Quintero was a passenger. Quintero asked Washington to pull over on Farrell Road so he could urinate. After he stepped outside, Quintero reached through the passenger window and opened fire on Washington.