Written by The prosecution case centered on the testimony of four men who said they saw Avila open fire from the corner of Seeley Avenue and 48th Street in Chicago.
Barrera had just returned to her home after trick-or-treating with her young children, when Avila and another gunman, reputed members of the Latin Saints street gang, opened fire at Two-Six gang rivals down the street. The other suspect was never arrested. Barrera was struck once in the head by the errant shot as she stood by the front gate to her Back of the Yards house.
During closing arguments earlier Monday, prosecutors said it wasn’t surprising that a fifth witness, one of Avila’s relatives, recanted earlier grand jury testimony that Avila confessed to him days after the shooting. The witness, they said, had recently been beaten with a two-by-four and warned not to testify.
Avila’s mother and sister testified Monday that he was home at the time of the shooting. Also, John Paul Carroll, Avila’s lawyer, contended that some of the state’s eyewitnesses were rival gang members, another was motivated by desire for fame and Avila’s relative was threatened with deportation if he did not say what police wanted to hear.
He also accused prosecutors of trying to inflame the passions of the jury against his client by having Barrera’s three young children present for much of the testimony, including closing arguments.
“They’re what — not even 7 years old,” he said as he gestured toward the front row of the gallery. “Why were they in here? Because they wanted to be here?”
A reputed gang member was convicted Monday night of the murder of a pregnant mother of three, who was shot in front of her children on Halloween in 2007.
A Cook County jury deliberated about an hour and a half before convicting Orlando Avila, 21, after a four-day trial. He faces a sentence of 40 to 80 years in prison.
“I was very happy to hear that,” said Manuel Flores, whose wife, Leticia Barrera, was more than 2 months’ pregnant when she was slain on her 32nd birthday. “The difficult part of the trial was that I worried that he might be let go, let free.”
Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Brian Sexton told jurors that Barrera’s family had every right to be in court for her trial.
“And (Barrera) almost made it,” Sexton said as a photo flashed on a courtroom video screen of a pool of drying blood surrounded by small bags of candy and a fairy princess wand. “Because of this defendant and the Latin Saints war with the Two-Sixers, you get this scene.”
Avila showed no reaction as the verdict was announced, but his relatives made the sign of the cross and cried. Flores looked ahead stoically as his children sat quietly with a victim advocate.
“A rather frustrating feeling,” Circuit Judge Stanley Sacks muttered as he left the bench after the verdict. “Nothing changes, and Leticia Barrera will still be dead.”
Avila is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 17.
i hope he gets the chair