Gabriela Escutia is a Plainfield, Illinois woman who was convicted of first-degree murder in the October 2007 shooting death of her ex-boyfriend, 18-year-old Javier Barrios, and sentenced to 52 years in prison. In 2018, a state appeals court overturned that conviction after finding police had obtained her confession through unconstitutional interrogation. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2019 and was released the same month, having already served more than ten years.
The Shooting at the Meijer Parking Lot
On October 28, 2007, Javier Barrios was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Meijer store in Plainfield. Escutia and Barrios had previously dated, and Escutia had obtained an order of protection against him before the shooting.1Illinois Courts. People v. Escutia, 2018 IL App (3d) 140509-U
Prosecutors said Escutia arranged to meet Barrios at the store. She arrived with her then-boyfriend, Ricardo Gutierrez, and a female friend. Gutierrez had given Escutia a handgun. Escutia walked up to Barrios’s vehicle and shot him once in the side, piercing his heart. She tried to fire again, but the gun jammed. Gutierrez then took the weapon, chased Barrios as he fled toward a nearby field, and shot him twice in the back of the head. Each of the two head wounds was independently sufficient to cause death.2Will County State’s Attorney’s Office. Plainfield Woman Gets 52 Years for 2007 Murder of Boyfriend
The 2014 Trial and 52-Year Sentence
Escutia was charged with first-degree murder and stood trial in Will County in March 2014. Assistant State’s Attorney Tricia McKenna told jurors that Escutia had planned the killing, wore a glove to avoid leaving fingerprints, and admitted both to police and on the witness stand that she intended to fire a second shot. “She meant to shoot him twice before she ever got there,” McKenna said. “She wasn’t paralyzed with fear. She was a woman on a mission — to kill Javier Barrios.”3Shaw Local News Network. Gabriela Escutia Found Guilty in 2007 Murder
The defense, led by attorney Neil Patel, argued that Escutia suffered from battered women’s syndrome and acted out of fear. Escutia testified that Barrios had shoved her, thrown objects at her, shot her in the arm with a BB gun, and once slapped and choked her.4Shaw Local News Network. Woman Accused of Murder Takes Stand in Own Defense A domestic violence expert testified that his threats had triggered a “fight or flight response.” Prosecutors asked why Escutia had arranged an armed meeting rather than relying on the protective order she already held.
After roughly four hours of deliberation, the jury found her guilty of first-degree murder. On July 1, 2014, Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes sentenced her to 52 years in prison. The range had been 45 years to life.5Chicago Tribune. Plainfield Woman Gets 52 Years for Former Boyfriend’s Murder
Why the Appeals Court Threw Out Her Confession
Escutia’s appeal turned on how police obtained her statement. Officers arrested her and Gutierrez at a Chicago residence without a warrant at 5:28 a.m. on the night of the shooting. During the roughly hour-long drive back to Plainfield, detectives got her talking about the crime, prompting her with phrases like “then what.” She was not read her Miranda rights until 8:34 a.m., more than three hours after the arrest.1Illinois Courts. People v. Escutia, 2018 IL App (3d) 140509-U
On May 24, 2018, the Third District Appellate Court reversed her conviction and ordered a new trial. Writing for the majority, Justice McDade, joined by Presiding Justice Carter, found that police had deliberately used a “question first, warn later” technique barred by Missouri v. Seibert. By the time Escutia received her Miranda warnings, she had already confessed in the police vehicle, and officers had not told her the earlier statements could not be used against her. A reasonable person in her position, the court held, would not have understood she had a real choice to stop talking. Justice Wright dissented. The court also held there was enough other evidence to sustain a conviction, so double jeopardy did not bar a retrial.1Illinois Courts. People v. Escutia, 2018 IL App (3d) 140509-U
The 2019 Plea Deal and Release
Without the confession, prosecutors’ case was significantly weaker. Patel said a second first-degree murder conviction would have been “almost impossible” for the state to secure.6Shaw Local News Network. Killer Deal: Woman Released in Murder Case The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office offered a plea to second-degree murder, which it described as the most serious charge the remaining evidence would support.
Escutia accepted the deal on February 15, 2019. Illinois caps second-degree murder at 20 years, with at least half required to be served. With credit for more than ten years already in custody, she was released on February 21, 2019.7Patch. Woman Convicted in 2007 Plainfield Murder Released Patel called it “an excellent result” and said of the police conduct that unraveled the case, “They should’ve known better.”6Shaw Local News Network. Killer Deal: Woman Released in Murder Case
Co-Defendant Ricardo Gutierrez
Gutierrez, who fired the fatal shots to Barrios’s head, was tried separately and convicted of first-degree murder in 2013. A jury handed down a 68-year sentence.8Will County State’s Attorney’s Office. Will County SAO Announcements His case followed the same trajectory as Escutia’s. On November 15, 2019, the Third District Appellate Court reversed his conviction, finding that police had engaged in “flagrant and/or purposeful misconduct” by arresting him without a warrant and then leveraging Escutia’s tainted statements to draw out his own confession. Justice Carter wrote that Miranda warnings alone could not cure the underlying constitutional violation.9Illinois Courts. People v. Gutierrez, 2019 IL App (3d) 180405 Gutierrez later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and, with roughly 12 years of credit, was released on parole the same day.10Shaw Local News Network. Man Pleaded Guilty to Lesser Charge in 2007 Plainfield Murder Case