Juan Ramos pleads guilty to helping hide the body of stabbing victim Burnadine Kinsey

Michael Lansu — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:30:40 -0600

Burnadine Kinsey

BY LEEANN SHELTON
Sun-Times Media

A man was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Tuesday after he admitted to helping his friend hide the body of 49-year-old Burnadine Kinsey in a West Side apartment in 2013.

Juan Ramos, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of concealing a homicidal death and Judge Thomas Gainer Jr. sentenced him to 42 months in prison, according to court records.

Authorities said Benjamin Esquivel had sex with Kinsey then stabbed her to death after a fight, wrapped her in a sheet and hid her in his closet in the 4400 block of West Wilcox Street in August 2013.

Esquivel then called Ramos and asked for advice on how to dispose of the body, prosecutors said. Surveillance cameras at an area Home Depot caught the two buying tarps, duct tape, rubber gloves and a Sprite.

Ramos helped Esquivel, 22, wrap Kinsey’s body in the tarp and duct taped her head, torso and feet before putting her back into a closet in Esquivel’s home, prosecutors claim.

Esquivel and Ramos were out looking for dump sites when a relative found the body in the apartment three days later and called police, authorities said.

Prosecutors claimed Kinsey -- a grandmother and mother -- was a prostitute, but her family insisted she spent her days taking care of her diabetic amputee younger brother.

Ramos, of the 2000 block of North Lamon Avenue, was given credit for 526 days spent in jail since his arrest, according to court records.

Esquivel is awaiting trial on charges of murder, armed robbery and concealing a homicidal death, court records show. He will next appear in court Dec. 1.

Prosecutors: Man had sex with woman, killed her, wrapped body in tarp and hid it in his mother's closet

Rummana Hussain — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:54:48 -0500

After Benjamin Esquivel had sex with Burnadine Kinsey, he allegedly stabbed her to death, covered her body in a sheet and blanket and threw her into a closet where she was discovered by Esquivel’s mother in their West Garfield Park apartment.

And in that closet, the corpse remained from Friday to Monday, Cook County prosecutors said.

During that time, Esquivel told his friend — a married father of three — how he killed Kinsey after a fight and sought his advice on how to dispose of the body, Assistant State’s Attorney Amanda Pillsbury said.

Esquivel, 20, and Juan Ramos went to an area Home Depot where they allegedly purchased two tarps, duct tape, a bag of rubber gloves and a Sprite.

The pair placed Kinsey’s body in the tarp and duct taped her head, torso and feet before putting her back in the closet, Pillsbury said.

Esquivel and Ramos, who also goes by the name Omar Reyes, then went to look for places to dump the body, Pillsbury said.

But while they were gone, Esquivel’s mother stumbled upon the body again in the residence in the 4400 block of West Wilcox, Pillsbury said.

This time her daughter was with her. And this time, she called police.

Pillsbury said Kinsey — a grandmother and mother — was a prostitute but her family insisted she spent her days taking care of her diabetic amputee younger brother.

Kinsey, 49, was arrested for prostitution in July and was supposed to appear in court for the case on Friday, according to court records.

Her family didn’t notice her missing until Saturday when they gathered at her house for a party — not knowing that she was dead just a few blocks away.

“It’s just crazy,” Kinsey’s brother David, 42, said Wednesday after Judge Israel Desierto ordered Esquivel held on $1 million for murder and Ramos held on $250,000 bail for concealment of a homicide.

Kinsey’s daughter Tierra Kinsey, 26, said she was “devastated” to learn details of her mother’s death.

“How could someone do that to my mom? To leave her in a f------closet? I feel that charges should be filed against [Esquivel’s] mother,” she said.

Esquivel and Ramos were both caught Home Depot surveillance cameras making the purchase and Esquivel told another person what he had done, Pillsbury said.

Ramos, 37, also allegedly admitted that he sought a secluded area where the body could be dumped with the goal of it not being traced.

Esquivel has a previous possession of stolen motor vehicle conviction and had been found delinquent as a juvenile for arson. He was on parole for an aggravated battery conviction as a juvenile, Pillsbury said.

Ramos, of the 2000 block of North Lamon, has five previous convictions for drugs and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

Benjamin Esquivel | Homicide Watch Chicago

Juan Ramos pleads guilty to helping hide the body of stabbing victim Burnadine Kinsey

Prosecutors: Man had sex with woman, killed her, wrapped body in tarp and hid it in his mother's closet