A 32-year-old Joliet man is accused of murdering a friend with a hammer in Homer Glen and abandoning the male's body in a vehicle, police said.

Javier Heredia-Rios, of 300 block of N. Eastern Avenue in Joliet, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealing a homicide, according to a Will County Sheriff's statement.

Heredia-Rios was arrested 11 hours after sheriff's deputies discovered the body of Oscar Garrido-Castro, 36, of Joliet, in the back seat Monday of a 2004 GMC Envoy, the statement said.

The two men were “longtime acquaintances,” and were together Sunday about 6:30 p.m. at Mora Builders, 12145 W. 159th St., in Homer Glen where Heredia-Rio is employed, the statement said.

But the two men argued about sexual advances Garrido-Castro allegedly made toward Heredia-Rios, police said.

“The altercation escalated and Heredia-Rios struck Garrido-Castro in the head with a hammer, then strangled him,” the police statement said.

Heredia-Rios then allegedly drove the vehicle with Garrido-Castro in the back seat to the 1700 block of Rosalind Avenue, west of Farrell Road, in Joliet Township.

After the vehicle was found, sheriff's investigators learned of the escalating situation between the two men after speaking with Garrido-Castro's family, police said. By 11 p.m. police found Heredia-Rios at his home, and he voluntarily cooperated with detectives, the statement said.

“By his own admission, Heredia-Rios stated that when he was approached by officers he was on his way to Mexico,” the sheriff's statement said. “Heredia-Rios is an undocumented immigrant and has been issued a temporary visitor's driver's license.”

Heredia-Rios is being held at Will County jail and will face bond court Wednesday.

Funeral arrangements for Garrido-Castro will be at Delgado Funeral Chapel in Joliet.

Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.