Chicago woman pleads guilty, gets 50 years for cutting child from victim's womb

Clarisa Figueroa, 51, pled guilty to cutting a fetus from the womb of a 19-year-old she had lured to her home with the promise of baby clothing. Both the fetus & mother, who was 9 months pregnant at the time of the crime.

19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was allegedly strangled with a cord, then had her baby cut out of her womb with a butcher knife by Figueroa, who then called 911 to report she had given birth and the baby was not breathing.

The defendant sat in a wheelchairand 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, according to news reports.

Two weeks after the deceased disappeared, police found her car parked near the Figueroa household, and were told by Desiree Figueroa, Clarisa's daughter, that her mother recently had given birth. DNA tests proved this claim to be false.

Figueroa's boyfriend, whom she had told she was pregnant, was sentenced to 4 years in jail for obstruction after he helped clean up the crime scene, but he was not implicated in the actualt murder itself.

Desiree Figueroa pleaded guilty to murder in January and testified against her mother. She received a 30 year prison sentence for her part in facilitating the crime.