Woman who cut unborn baby from victim's womb with butcher knife, sentenced to 50 years
A Chicago woman who admitted to killing a pregnant teen she lured to a home and then cut her unborn child from her womb has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Under a deal reached in Cook County Circuit Court Clarisa Figueroa, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the spring 2019 slaying of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. The baby later died.
Associate Judge Peggy Chiampas handed down the sentence on Tuesday, a Cook County State's Attorney's Office spokesperson told USA TODAY.
Ochoa-Lopez was killed on April 23, 2019, after being lured into the home where Clarisa Figueroa lived with her then 24-year-old daughter by Facebook posts offering free baby clothes, USA TODAY previously reported. While her daughter distracted Ochoa-Lopez with a photo album, Figueroa wrapped a cable around the teen's neck and strangled her.
She then cut open Ochoa-Lopez with a butcher’s knife and removed the placenta and the baby. After disposing of the body, Figueroa called 911 and told officials she had just delivered her own baby and it was not breathing.
When she arrived at a hospital covered in blood, later determined to belong to Ochoa-Lopez, doctors who examined her found “no signs consistent with a woman who had just delivered a baby.”
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Baby died a month after the attack
The victim was reported missing the next day, but police did not connect her disappearance to the 911 call about the baby until May 7, 2019 when friends of the teen directed detectives to her social media account that showed she had communicated with Clarisa Figueroa.
The baby, Yovany Yadiel Lopez, died after being on life support for more than a month after the attack. The infant's family had been weighing whether to remove him from life support, but the child died of a severe brain injury.
On May 16, 2019, records show police arrested Figueroa her along with her daughter Desiree Figueroa on charges of first-degree murder.
Desiree Figueroa sentenced to 30 years after agreeing to testify against mother
In January, her daughter pleaded guilty to a murder charge and under a deal with lawyers in the case, agreed to testify against her mother.
Prosecutors told USA TODAY Desiree Figueroa has not been sentenced, but was slated to appear in court for a hearing on her case Wednesday.
Piotr Bobak, the elder Figueroa's boyfriend at the time of the killing, concealed the murder, police said. Prosecutors told USA TODAY he pleaded guilty to a felony obstruction of justice charge last year and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Contributing: Ryan Miller
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.