Pregnant teenager murdered and baby cut from womb in attempted “foetal abduction”

Three people have been charged with in connection with the murder of a pregnant teenager in Chicago who was strangled to death before her unborn child was cut from her womb.

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez (19) was lured to her death on April 23rd by Clarisa Figueroa who had befriend the pregnant teen on Facebook through a group that was pretending to offer support to expectant, struggling mothers.

Figueroa along with her daughter Desiree (24) had plotted to kill a pregnant women and steal her baby for months and Figueroa had faked a pregnancy as part of the disturbing charade.

When Ms Lopez arrived at Figueroa’s home, she was distracted by Desiree with a photo album of pictures of her deceased brother while her mother then attempted to strangle the expectant teen.

Chicago Prosecutor, Jim Murphy, said that when Ms Lopez resisted efforts to strangle her, Figueroa screamed at her daughter “You’re not doing your f—ing job!” Desiree then pulled Lopez’s hands from the cord around her neck and Figueroa managed to eventually kill her.

Emergency services were called to the house some hours later by Figueroa when the baby they had torn its mother’s womb stopped breathing. Figueroa told authorities it was her child.

The baby boy is currently in a grave condition in hospital and is not expected to survive.

Meanwhile, police had opened a missing persons investigation into the disappearance of but the break in the investigation came when they became aware of the Facebook conversation between Lopez and Figueroa on May 7th.

After a DNA test it was determined that the baby was the child of Ms Lopez and after searching the Figueroa house discovered evidence of the murder and obtained confessions from the three suspects.

Ms Lopez’s body was discovered last week, the cord still tightened around her neck.

Police arrested Carisa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree and charged them with murder and also arrested and charged Figueroa’s boyfriend Piotr Bobak with attempting to conceal a murder.

Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz denied bond to the Figueroas, who are charged with murder, saying she felt “the presumption is great” that they committed a “heinous and brutal murder”. The Figueroa’s lawyer has asked they be granted protective custody “give the nature of the caes”.

What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments section on Facebook and share this with your friends.

Share this story

Tell us what you think on our Facebook page