Acid Attack Victim To Face Alleged Assailants at Chicago Trial

CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) It's been two years since 50-year-old Esperanza Medina has shown her face. Next week in an Illinois courtroom, she will stare into the eyes of the two women who allegedly recruited three teens to throw battery acid in her face, revealing the red and white scars left behind when the liquid seared through her skin.

Jury selection began Thursday for Ofelia Garcia, 60, and Maria Olvera-Garcia, 37, for their trial over the acid attack against Medina on July 28, 2008, according to ABC 7 Chicago. The older woman allegedly planned the assault committed by three teenagers, because she believed the victim was dating her ex-husband, according to CBS affiliate WBBM. Olvera-Garcia will also stand trial for allegedly driving the teens to the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago where the incident took place.

Both women have pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and heinous battery, according to the Chicago Tribune.  A third suspect, Linda Dirzo, died in 2009 while her trial was pending, states the paper. All three teens - a 16-year-old girl, and a 15-year-old boy and girl - pleaded guilty last year to their roles in the attack.

Medina, a mother of four, was preparing to get into her car when two people  walked up and poured the liquid on her, according to WBBM. A woman heard Medina's piercing screams and rushed to help.

"I just remember saying, 'I'm going to faint,' and that's all I remember. That's when time stopped," said Medina according to the Tribune.

The social worker suffered third-degree burns on 25 percent of her body and had multiple skin grafts.

Following the attack Medina was stricken with anger and fear, reports the paper. She covered herself in loose clothing and face masks and avoided close contact with her loved ones.

"She was always the good one," her younger sister Alma Camacho told the Tribune.

Medina plans to confront her alleged attackers at trial with her hair pulled back off her face, as she recounts her story, reports the Tribune.

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