Jury Picked For Trial of Chicago Man Charged in ’07 Plainfield Murder
The trial of a Chicago man jailed since October 2007 in connection with a Plainfield murder is set to start Thursday morning.
Jury selection for Ricardo Gutierrez’s trial started and finished Wednesday.
Gutierrez, 23, allegedly gunned down Javier Barrios, who was 18 when he was killed.
Barrios, a Romeoville resident, was first shot by his ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Gabriela Escutia, police said.
Escutia allegedly set up a rendezvous with Barrios in a field on Route 59 near a Meijer service station. Gutierrez reportedly joined her for the meeting.
Escutia has confessed to shooting Barrios as he sat in his car, according to a complaint for a search warrant. After firing once, the complaint said, the gun jammed.
Escutia cleared the gun but Gutierrez took it from her and shot Barrios twice more, the complaint said. Gutierrez told police he tossed the gun away on Interstate 55 after shooting Barrios, the complaint said, but Escutia believed he held on to it and brought it back to his home in Chicago.
Escutia and Gutierrez were captured at the residence in Chicago. A search of the home failed to turn up the handgun.
Escutia had sought and secured an order of protection against Barrios two and a half weeks prior to the killing. In her petition for the order she claimed 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’s case remains pending. She has a March 8 court date.
Before picking a jury, prosecutors and Gutierrez’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak discussed what witnesses might be called at the trial and pointed out that a detective who investigated the case, Troy Kivisto, is no longer a member of the Plainfield Police Department.
In January 2011, sources identified Kivisto as the off-duty Plainfield cop who barricaded himself in his car in Chicago’s South Loop. The officer reportedly threatened to harm himself but was coaxed out of the car by Chicago police after about two hours.
A Chicago police spokesman said at the time the off-duty officer was “distraught for personal reasons.”
A source said Kivisto was recently arrested outside Will County.
Elmhurst Patch reported that a Troy A. Kivisto, 46, was arrested twice in November. On Nov. 24, he was charged with trespass and possession of liquor on public property after a woman walked into a garage in the 200 block of North Larch and allegedly saw him crouching behind her vehicle, police said. On Nov. 26, he was charged with criminal trespass after police found him passed out in the back yard of a home in the 200 block of North Larch, police said. He was reportedly taken to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital because he was intoxicated.
