Current:Home > InvestChicago woman pleads guilty, gets 50 years for cutting child from victim’s womb -Momentum Wealth Path
Chicago woman pleads guilty, gets 50 years for cutting child from victim’s womb
View
Date:2025-04-28 00:55:59
CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman accused of luring a pregnant teenager to her home and cutting her baby from her womb with a butcher knife nearly five years ago pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Clarisa Figueroa, 51, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit, did not provide a statement but answered “Yes” when Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas asked her if she understood she would need to serve the entire sentence and would not receive early release on parole, news outlets reported.
Prosecutors have said Figueroa strangled 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez with a cable on April 23, 2019, after luring the teenager to her home with the promise of free clothing for her unborn child. Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant. Figueroa then called 911, saying she given birth and the child was not breathing.
The child died about two months later.
Yovanny Lopez, the victim’s husband and the father of the child, Yovanny Jadiel Lopez, described how the tragedy affected him and the couple’s older child, Joshua., who he said “has lost his mother forever.”
“The memory of my infant son’s last breath in my arms is complete agony,” he said in a statement read in Spanish and English in the courtroom. "... God’s justice will be served upon you the day you die.”
Authorities say not long after Clarisa Figueroa’s adult son died of natural causes, she told her family she was pregnant. They say she plotted for months to acquire a newborn, and that she posted an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby on her Facebook page. In March 2019, she and Ochoa-Lopez connected on a Facebook page for pregnant women
Detectives investigating Ochoa-Lopez’ 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.
Ochoa-Lopez’s body was found in a garbage can outside the Figueroa home.
Clarisa Figueroa tricked her boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, into believing he was the father, police and prosecutors said.
Bobak cleaned up the crime scene and was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty last year to obstruction of justice.
Desiree Figueroa, 29, pleaded guilty to murder in January for helping her mother and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. She had agreed to testify against her mother.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- The Beach Boys like never before: Band's first official book is a trove of rare artifacts
- Ford to delay production of new electric pickup and large SUV as US EV sales growth slows
- Two-time NBA champion point guard Rajon Rondo makes retirement official
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Transportation officials want NYC Marathon organizers to pay $750K to cross the Verrazzano bridge
- Mother of Mark Swidan, U.S. citizen wrongfully detained in China, fears he may take his life
- Mother of Justin Combs shares footage of raid at Diddy's home, denounces militarized force
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Kansas City fans claim power back by rejecting Chiefs and Royals stadium tax
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Caitlin Clark picks up second straight national player of the year award
- Hailey Bieber’s Photo of Justin Bieber in Bed Is Sweeter Than Peaches
- Woman convicted 22 years after husband's remains found near Michigan blueberry field: Like a made-for-TV movie
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Governor says budgetary cap would limit his immediate response to natural disasters in Kentucky
- Two-time NBA champion point guard Rajon Rondo makes retirement official
- The Beach Boys like never before: Band's first official book is a trove of rare artifacts
Recommendation
Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
Proof Brenda Song Is Living the Suite Life on Vacation With Macaulay Culkin
Prosecutors recommend at least 10 years in prison for parents of Michigan school shooter
The Beach Boys like never before: Band's first official book is a trove of rare artifacts
Average rate on 30
Tom Felton Reveals Which Scene He Wishes Made It Into Harry Potter
Proof Brenda Song Is Living the Suite Life on Vacation With Macaulay Culkin
Review: Andrew Scott is talented, but 'Ripley' remake is a vacuous flop