Crime & Safety

Plainfield Woman Guilty in 2007 Slaying of Romeoville Man

Gabriela Escutia was convicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Javier Barrios of Romeoville.

A Plainfield woman was found guilty Wednesday of luring a former boyfriend to a Route 59 shopping center before shooting him to death.

Gabriela Escutia, 25, faces 45 years to life in prison for her role in the 2007 murder of 18-year-old Javier Barrios of Romeoville.

On Wednesday, a jury found Escutia guilty of first-degree murder. Prosecutors said she lured the teen to the Meijer shopping center and ambushed him, accompanied by her boyfriend, Ricardo Gutierrez, and an unidentified woman.

Escutia shot Barrios once in the side, and admitted to police and on the witness stand that she would have shot him a second time had her gun not jammed.

Barrios, who was mortally wounded, fled before collapsing in a field near the store.

According to testimony during the trial, Escutia hid the gun in her sweatpants before shooting Barrios. She also wore one glove to avoid leaving fingerprints on the weapon, prosecutors said.

Last March, Gutierrez was found guilty of chasing the teen into the field and shooting him as he lay dying. Prosecutors said Gutierrez stood over Barrios and shot him twice in the head.

According to a statement Gutierrez gave to police, after the shooting, he and Escutia went to Gutierrez's Chicago home and watched the horror movie "Saw IV."

Gutierrez was sentenced to 68 years in prison last July. In a written statement given to Plainfield detectives, Gutierrez said Escutia lived in fear of Barrios.

"Gabby was supposed to scare him by aiming the gun at him and told him to stop messing with her and her daughter," he said in the statement. "I heard the gunshot so I ran out of there."

Guiterrez admitted to taking the gun from Escutia and shooting Barrios twice more.


“Gabriela Escutia lured her unarmed boyfriend into an ambush and then ruthlessly shot him,” State's Attorney James Glasgow said in a press release. “Tragically, Javier Barrios was already near death when he fled from this cold-blooded killer and her vicious accomplice. Ricardo Gutierrez ended Escutia’s cruel betrayal by shooting the dying man twice in the head after he collapsed.”

Wednesday's guilty verdict came despite the defense's contention that Escutia was afraid of Barrios and suffered from battered women's syndrome. Just two and a half weeks before the killing, Escutia obtained an order of protection against Barrios. In her petition for the order she claimed the Barrios pushed her down, slapped her, and broke her car window and a headlight. Escutia also accused Barrios of harassing her and "calling and leaving messages."

Escutia is scheduled to be sentenced Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes on June 20.


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