Clarisa Figueroa: Chicago 'womb raider' gets 50 years in prison for gruesome murder of pregnant teen
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Clarisa Figueroa, 51, infamously known as the 'womb raider,' has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the brutal murder of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez in 2019.
Clarisa's heinous crime involved luring the young mother to her home under false pretenses, then strangling her and cutting her unborn baby from her womb.
The brutal murder of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez
Clarisa and her daughter, Desiree Figueroa, 29, lured Ochoa-Lopez to their home with the promise of free baby clothes on April 23. While Desiree had been sharing a photo album of her deceased adult brother with the nine-month-pregnant teen mom, Clarisa approached from behind and fatally strangled her with a cable, according to prosecutors.
Following this, the mother instructed her daughter to retrieve a butcher’s knife, which was then used to surgically remove the baby from Ochoa-Lopez’s womb. After the tragic act, the two individuals wrapped the deceased mother’s body in plastic and disposed of it in a garbage can outside their home, with Desiree assisting in the process.
Clarisa proceeded to contact 911, attempting to deceive the operator by portraying the baby as her own and informing them that the newborn was not breathing. Tragically, Ochoa-Lopez’s son succumbed to severe brain damage two months later.
Clarisa Figueroa pleads guilty to murdering Marlen Ochoa-Lopez
The sentencing, handed down in a Cook County courtroom on April 16, comes after Clarisa pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, reported ABC. The courtroom was filled with emotion as the Ochoa-Lopez family expressed their anguish, stating that the “punishment will never be enough.”
“The loss of my daughter’s life is something I will never overcome,” Ochoa-Lopez’s mother, Raquel Uriostegui, mourned in her statement.
Clarisa Figueroa's deceptive charade and sinister plot to acquire newborn
Police uncovered the truth behind a web of lies after Ochoa-Lopez's husband reported her missing. The investigation led authorities to Clarisa's' home, where they discovered the young mother's body concealed in a trash can. DNA evidence later confirmed the baby Clarisa attempted to pass off as her own was indeed Ochoa-Lopez's.
The case exposed a disturbing pattern of deception by Clarisa, who falsely claimed to be pregnant despite having her fallopian tubes tied. Over the course of several months, she maintained a facade on her Facebook page by sharing ultrasound images and nursery photos, all the while scheming to obtain a newborn through any means possible.
Desiree, complicit in her mother's crime, received a lighter sentence of 30 years after agreeing to testify against her. Additionally, Clarisa's boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, faced consequences for his role in concealing the murder.
Yovanny Lopez, Ochoa-Lopez's husband, mourned the fact that his son would grow up without ever being able to hug his mother. “Your punishment will never be enough because my son will never be able to hug his mother ever!” he wrote in his statement. "I lost my family, and that will always stay with me,” the grieving father tearfully said outside the courtroom following the sentencing.
