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CHICAGO (TCD) — A 29-year-old woman pleaded guilty Monday to helping her mother kill a pregnant 19-year-old and cut the child out of the victim’s womb.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Desiree Figueroa entered the plea for first-degree murder Monday, Jan. 8, in connection with the death of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. As part of the plea deal, Figueroa will spend 30 years in prison and must testify against her mother, Clarisa Figueroa, in her murder trial, which is scheduled to begin this month.
According to the bond proffer, in October 2018, Clarisa Figueroa told her daughters she was pregnant even though she previously had her fallopian tubes tied. Earlier that year, her 20-year-old son, Xander, died from natural causes. Figueroa reportedly started posting ultrasound photos on social media and joined a Facebook group called “Help a Mother Out,” which “works to improve a family’s well-being by increasing access to baby items for families in need.”
On March 5, 2019, Figueroa reportedly posted in the group asking about who else was due in May. That same day, Figueroa and Ochoa-Lopez began messaging each other and Figueroa allegedly offered her new baby clothes. Ochoa-Lopez was seven months pregnant at the time of the message and was due in May.
The proffer alleges Clarisa Figueroa told Desiree Figueroa on April 1, 2019, that she “needed help killing a pregnant woman and taking a baby.” Desiree Figueroa reportedly refused at first and informed her boyfriend what her mom asked of her.
Ochoa-Lopez went to Desiree and Clarisa Figueroa’s house April 1 and was in the basement with them and Desiree Figueroa’s boyfriend. Clarisa and Desiree Figueroa allegedly “kept acting strange and on numerous occasions went into a separate room together.”
Desiree Figueroa’s boyfriend reportedly noticed Desiree Figueroa seemed to be “shaking at times.” He allegedly threatened to call the police if they planned to kill Ochoa-Lopez. Ochoa-Lopez left the home, and Clarisa Figueroa reportedly told the boyfriend “it was just an April Fool’s joke.”
About three weeks later, on April 23, 2019, Ochoa-Lopez went back to Clarisa and Desiree Figueroa’s house and sat in the living room. The mother and daughter reportedly blasted music and went into the kitchen, where they allegedly reviewed their plan to kill Ochoa-Lopez and cut her child out of her.
The women reportedly returned to the living room and Desiree Figueroa started showing Ochoa-Lopez photos of Xander to distract her. Then, Clarisa Figueroa allegedly tied a cable around Ochoa-Lopez’s neck from behind. Ochoa-Lopez reportedly was able to put her fingers between her neck and the cord, but Clarisa Figueroa allegedly told her daughter, “You’re not doing your f–king job.”
Desiree Figueroa allegedly “stepped up and began to peel [Ochoa-Lopez]’s fingers from the cable one by one.” Clarisa Figueroa reportedly tightened the cable around her neck, got on top of the victim, and strangled her for about five minutes.
Ochoa-Lopez reportedly reached out and touched Clarisa and Desiree Figueroa’s dog on his nose, and then died.
The proffer says Clarisa Figueroa ordered her daughter to grab a blanket, plastic bag, and butcher knife. Clarisa Figueroa allegedly used the butcher knife to slice Ochoa-Lopez’s abdomen open. She reportedly removed the placenta, umbilical cord, and baby, then put the child in a bucket. Clarisa Figueroa allegedly enveloped Ochoa-Lopez in the blanket, “shoved” her in the plastic bag, and “tied it tight.” She then reportedly “lugged the bag” with Ochoa-Lopez’s body to a garbage can and hid it in her garage.
Clarisa Figueroa called 911 and told dispatch she gave birth, but her child was not breathing. Paramedics and firefighters arrived and found Clarisa Figueroa holding the child, who still had the placenta and umbilical cord attached. They were transported to a local hospital, where the child was transferred to the NICU in “grave condition” due to “zero brain activity.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reports the child died six weeks later.
Surveillance video reportedly showed Desiree Figueroa driving Ochoa-Lopez’s car and parking it about half a block from her home.
At the hospital, medical staff examined Clarisa Figueroa but noted she “showed no signs consistent with a woman who had just delivered a baby.”
Clarisa Figueroa reportedly had blood on her face and arms, which was cleaned off by a technician at the hospital. Her boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, reportedly helped clean up blood in the house.
Ochoa-Lopez’s husband reported her missing April 24, 2019. Police reportedly found evidence that she communicated with Clarisa Figueroa on Facebook, so investigators went to the Figueroas’ home to speak with her. Police were told, however, Clarisa Figueroa was still in the hospital after giving birth.
Investigators obtained DNA samples from Clarisa Figueroa, her boyfriend, and Ochoa-Lopez’s husband and determined the child was not Figueroa’s.
On May 14, 2019, investigators obtained a search warrant for Desiree and Clarisa Figueroa’s house. When they went to the home, they found Bobak washing a rug with bleach. He reportedly “looked at the officers and dropped the bleach and hose and walked away.”
Police discovered Ochoa-Lopez’s remains in a garbage can. The cord was reportedly still wrapped around her neck. The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and determined Ochoa-Lopez was strangled to death and had her abdomen cut open.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bobak previously pleaded guilty to concealing the child’s death. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
The Associated Press reports Desiree Figueroa was pregnant at the time of the killing and gave birth in November 2019 while she was in jail.
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