Trio of Women Plead Not Guilty in July Acid Attack

CHICAGO -- The three women accused in a July acid attack that disfigured a social worker in Logan Square pleaded innocent to the charges Monday.

Ofelia Garcia, 59, Maria Olvera-Garcia, 35, and Linda Dirzo, 58, each pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder and multiple counts of heinous battery, armed robbery, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and aggravated battery before Cook County Judge Nicholas R. Ford, according to Andy Conklin, spokesman for the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

Garcia, of of South 49th Avenue, Cicero, also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of solicitation of aggravated battery, Conklin said.

Authorities described Garcia, a Cicero grandmother, as the mastermind behind the July attack, which disfigured Esperanza Medina, a 48-year-old social worker. A prosecutor previously said Garcia planned the attack because she believed Medina was seeing her ex-husband.

Two females and a male, all juveniles, accosted Medina in the 2900 block of West Altgeld with a bat and a bottle of acid, prosecutor Karen Sullivan said at a previous court hearing. Medina's purse was stolen.

Medina was injured when she was assaulted by the youths, one of whom threw the acid, Sullivan said. She had third-degree burns on 25 percent of her body, had multiple skin grafts and might lose sight in an eye.

Dirzo, of  South Justine, admitted driving the three youths. Video surveillance shows her dropping them off, Sullivan said.

Garcia planned the assault "because she believed the victim was seeing her ex-husband," the prosecutor said.

Two of the youths, both teen girls, were charged in August.

If convicted, Conklin said the adults each could face up to 30 years in prison.

A Jan. 22 status hearing before Judge Ford has been set in the case, Conklin said.