Mother, Daughter Charged With Murdering Baby Taken From Womb

CHICAGO — In June, an already grieving family mourned the loss of baby Yovanny Jadiel Lopez, who died nearly two months after he was torn from his mother's womb. Expectant mother Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was slain in April — strangled by a mother-daughter duo intent on stealing her child, according to prosecutors.

Now, mother and daughter Clarisa and Desiree Figueroa, already charged in Ochoa-Lopez' death, face a new murder charge for the death of baby Yovanny.

The new murder charge comes after the Cook County Medical Examiner's office found that baby Yovanny died from a lack of oxygen and blood to his brain in a ruling that cited "maternal assault and demise," according to NBC Chicago.

The child was on life support for nearly two months after his mother was killed. On the same day Marlen Ochoa-Lopez vanished, fire officials said Clarisa Figueroa came running out of her home on West 77th Place holding an infant and screaming that he wasn't breathing. Figueroa claimed she had just given birth to the baby boy.

Paramedics from the Chicago Fire Department were called to the home for a newborn with "CPR in progress," and the baby was in critical condition, authorities said. He remained on life support until his death in mid-June.

Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and Desiree Figueroa, 24, have been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery against a child. The daughter confessed to helping her mother kill Ochoa-Lopez, according to police. Both have pleaded not guilty. Clarisa's boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, 40, is charged with concealing a homicidal death.

Police believe Figueroa lured Ochoa-Lopez to her Southwest Side home after promising to give her a stroller and baby clothes via a Facebook group for moms.

Ochoa-Lopez's friends and family members shared with Patch Facebook posts in which Clarisa Figueroa claimed she was pregnant and due at the same time as the 19-year-old. The 46-year-old, whose adult son died two years ago from natural causes, apparently planned to take the child and raise him as her own, police said.

Ochoa-Lopez was last seen leaving Latino Youth High School April 23. Police believe she was killed the same day, after arriving at Figueroa's house.

On May 14, Ochoa-Lopez' body was found by police executing a search warrant at the West 77th Place home. Her body had been placed in a trash can hidden on the premises, along with a coaxial cable police say was used to strangle her.

A GoFundMe campaign was established for the Lopez family days after her body was found. As of Thursday, more than $60,000 had been donated to help her husband, Yovani Lopez, and their older son, Joshua, 3.

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