After decade of waiting, suburban family ready for trial

Friends and family of Maria Eloiza have played the waiting game for almost a decade.

But the beginning of the end could finally come today.

Eloiza was a 26-year-old single mother when she was reported missing on Aug. 21, 1998. The Prospect Heights woman vanished with her 5-year-old son, Jesus "Jesse" Ramirez.

Three months later, two hunters found the pair's skeletal remains hidden under sticks and branches in the woods near Stanton, Mo., about 40 miles southwest of St. Louis.

As Prospect Heights police investigated, a 16-year-old boy who worked with Eloiza emerged as the main suspect. But police said Leobardo Barraza fled to Mexico.

He'd been a fugitive for eight years when U.S. marshals finally brought Barraza into custody. He was arrested on July 27, 2006, in Colorado Springs, Colo., after Prospect Heights police matched Barraza to a new mug shot. Colorado authorities had picked him up for possessing a stolen vehicle, police said.

Since the August 2006 federal grand jury indictment, Barraza has remained in federal custody in St. Louis, charged with two counts of kidnapping resulting in death.

So Eloiza's loved ones found themselves waiting once more, waiting for the start of Barraza's trial as attorneys continued to postpone it.

The trial is finally scheduled to start Monday in St. Louis with jury selection before U.S. Senior District Judge Stephen Limbaugh of the Eastern District of Missouri, U.S. Attorney's office spokeswoman Jan Diltz confirmed.

"Whatever happens, we're not going to get Maria back," said Paula Eloiza, Maria's eldest sister.

Yet, after years of wondering why Eloiza and her son were killed, the family is poised for some closure.

"We're putting everything in God's hands," Paula Eloiza said.

Prosecutors will get help from the Cook County state's attorney's office and Prospect Heights police at trial.

Assistant state's attorney William Delaney will travel to St. Louis to serve as a co-prosecutor, according to state's attorney spokesman Andrew Conklin. And Prospect Heights detectives Al Steffen and Mark Porlier, who've logged thousands of hours on the case, will go as well, Police Chief Bruce Morris said.

Maria Eloiza's sister Paula, her parents and the father of her slain child, also named Jesus Ramirez, plan to attend the proceedings. And Paula is expected to testify.

Meanwhile, a second man - Jose Jesus Hernandez - was indicted on a charge of kidnapping in connection to the slayings, but remains a fugitive.

Barraza and Eloiza worked at Chicago Bagel and Bialy Deli in Wheeling, where he was a janitor. After Eloiza's family reported the disappearance, police questioned Barraza, who authorities said then fled over the border to avoid further interrogation.

Investigators believe Barraza had convinced Eloiza to drive with him to Mexico - possibly by telling her they could make $40,000 in a drug run, but they never made it. The car stopped in Missouri, where authorities think Eloiza and her son were killed, while Barraza is believed to have returned to Wheeling.

Now 26, Barraza is the same age Eloiza was when she was killed. He faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted. Since the alleged kidnapping occurred when he was a juvenile, Barraza is ineligible for the death penalty. He's being represented by public defender Kevin Curran.

Paula Eloiza said the family has found strength in their Catholic faith through the almost decade of grief.

She also said she favors a life sentence if Barraza is found guilty, to prevent him from causing future harm.

Still, she added, "We've learned through the years that we must forgive."