A Chicago woman pleaded guilty to murder on Tuesday and was sentenced to 50 years behind bars for strangling a 19-year-old who was nine months pregnant and cutting the baby from her womb.
According to prosecutors, 51-year-old Clarisa Figueroa strangled Marlen Ochoa-Lopez on April 23, 2019, with a cable after luring her to her home by offering her free clothing for her baby, NBC News reported.
“Figueroa then called 911, saying she [had] given birth and the child was not breathing,” according to the report. “The child died about two months later.”
Figueroa, who was clothed in a yellow jumpsuit and seated in a wheelchair, only answered “yes” when Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas asked her if she understood she would not receive parole or early release, according to local media.
Lopez’s husband, Yovanny Lopez, who is also the father of the baby, named Yovanny Jadiel Lopez, read a statement in the courtroom, both in English and in Spanish, describing the family’s incredible loss. He also spoke of the couple’s older son, Joshua, who has “lost his mother forever.”
A memorial of flowers, balloons, a cross, and a photo of victim Marlen Ochoa-Lopez are displayed on a lawn on May 17, 2019, in Chicago, outside the home where Ochoa-Lopez was murdered. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
“The memory of my infant son’s last breath in my arms is complete agony,” he said. “… God’s justice will be served upon you the day you die.”
Officials said Figueroa began planning to acquire a newborn soon after her adult son died of natural causes. Figueroa reportedly began telling her family she was pregnant and posting photos of an ultrasound and a decorated baby room to her Facebook page. In March 2019, Figueroa connected with Ochoa-Lopez on a Facebook page for pregnant women, according to the report:
Detectives investigating Ochoa-Lopez’s disappearance learned that she had gone to the defendant’s home. Two weeks after her disappearance, police found her car parked nearby and were told by Desiree Figueroa, Clarisa’s daughter, that her mother recently had given birth.
DNA tests later determined the child was not Clarisa Figueroa’s.
Investigators subsequently found Ochoa-Lopez’s body outside of the Figueroa home in a garbage bin.
Police and prosecutors said Clarisa Figueroa tricked her boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, into thinking he was the father of the child, and he cleaned up the crime scene. He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2023 for obstruction of justice.
This booking photo from May 16, 2019, provided by the Chicago Police Department, shows Piotr Bobak, charged with concealment of a homicide. (Chicago Police Department via AP)
Her daughter, Desiree, 29, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping her mother after pleading guilty to murder in January.
This booking photo, provided by the Chicago Police Department, from, May 16, 2019, shows Desiree Figueroa, who is charged in the death of 19-year-old expectant mother Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. (Chicago Police Department via AP)
“She had agreed to testify against her mother,” according to the report.
