Chicago woman gets 50 years for murder of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, whose baby was cut from womb

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Clarisa Figueroa was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of pregnant Chicago woman Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, whose baby was cut from her womb.

Ochoa-Lopez was 19 when she was killed in 2019, and her unborn baby was cut from her womb in a home in Chicago's Scottsdale neighborhood.

Clarisa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree were both charged with her murder. Desiree Figueroa pleaded guilty to murder in a Cook County courtroom Monday morning. Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend was released on parole last year after pleading guilty to helping conceal the murder.

Some of Ochoa-Lopez's family were in court at the time. Two victim impact statements were read before the judge entered the plea agreement, including by Yovanny Lopez, Marlen's husband the father of both their older son and the baby that Figueroa was targeting. He wrote in part, "Your punishment will never be enough because my son will never be able to hug his mother ever!"

The other was by Ochoa-Lopez's mother Raquel Uriostegui, who wrote, "The loss of my daughter's life is something I will never overcome."

Yovanny Lopez said outside of court, "I lost my family and that will always stay with me."

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Clarisa Figueroa, who was 46 at the time of the murder, had announced to her family she was pregnant in October 2018, even though she had previously had her fallopian tubes tied.

Prosecutors said in February 2019 she started posting on the Help a Mother Out Facebook page, which helped connect families in need with baby items. That is how she connected with Ochoa-Lopez. Prosecutors said Figueroa offered the 19-year-old new baby clothes.

The prosecution said Clarisa told her daughter she needed help killing a pregnant woman and taking her baby. Ochoa-Lopez went to their home on April 1, 2019. Her boyfriend told police that Desiree initially refused to help her mother kill Ochoa-Lopez and that he threatened to call the police if they went through with it, and Ochoa-Lopez left the home unharmed.

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On April 23, 2019, Ochoa-Lopez returned to their home, at which time prosecutors said Desiree showed her a photo album with pictures of Clarisa's son Xander, who had died at age 20, while her mother strangled her from behind. Prosecutors said Desiree left the room before her mother took the baby from Ochoa-Lopez's womb.

They then wrapped up the body in a blanket and a plastic bag before dumping it in a garbage can in the garage, and called 911 to report Clarisa had just given a home birth and her child wasn't breathing.

Ochoa-Lopez's baby survived for only two months after her death. Her husband reported her missing the day after her murder. The Figueroas were arrested on May 14.

Clarisa Figueroa accepted an agreement to plead guilty to first degree murder and will serve a 50 year sentence.

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