Woman faces 50 years in prison for killing pregnant teen and cutting baby from her womb
A woman from Chicago was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a pregnant teen and cutting the baby from her womb.
The Associated Press reported that Clarisa Figueroa, 51, did not provide a statement but answered “Yes” when Judge Peggy Chiampas asked her if she understood she would need to serve the entire sentence and wouldn’t receive early release on parole.
Prosecutors said that on April 23, 2019, Figueroa strangled Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, who was nine months pregnant, with a cable after luring the teenager to her home with the promise of free clothing for her unborn child.
Figueroa then called 911, saying she gave birth and the baby wasn’t breathing.
The child died about two months later, according to AP.
Authorities said that when Figueroa’s adult son died of natural causes, she told her family she was pregnant.
She reportedly plotted for months to acquire a newborn, posting on Facebook an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby. That’s when she connected with Ochoa-Lopez on a Facebook page for pregnant women.
When Ochoa-Lopez visited Figueroa, the latter’s daughter Desiree, 29, said her mother had given birth recently.
DNA tests, however, showed the child wasn’t hers. Figueroa also tricked her boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, into believing he was the father.
Ochoa-Lopez’s body was also found in a garbage outside the Figueroa home, AP reported.
Bobak cleaned up the crime scene, and was sentenced to four years in prison for obstruction of justice.
Desiree, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping her mother with it.