CHICAGO — The woman accused of murdering a pregnant teen and cutting out an unborn baby from the teen’s body wants her arrest thrown out.
Marlen Ochoa-Lopez’s body was discovered in a trash bin in April 2019 behind a home on the 4100 block of West 77th Place on the South Side — in a case that captured national headlines for weeks.
Clarisa Figueroa, and her daughter Desiree Figueroa, were charged with the deaths of 19-year-old Ochoa-Lopez and her son. Figueroa’s boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, was charged with concealing a homicide.
Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant when she went to Figueroa’s home under the impression that she was getting free baby items after the two connected in a Facebook group.
The teen was initially reported missing on April 23, 2019 — less than two weeks before her due date. Police said a cord was used to strangle her to death. Her baby boy, Yovanny Jadiel Lopez, was cut from her womb with a butcher’s knife after she was killed.
The baby suffered brain injuries after the incident and was hospitalized, but later died.
On Monday, Figueroa’s attorney filed a motion to void her arrest and suppress certain evidence gathered during a search of the crime scene. It’s unclear what evidence the attorney wants thrown out.
At the time of her initial arrest and first court appearance, prosecutors said Desiree Figueroa distracted the victim with a photo album of her late brother while Clarisa Figueroa strangled Ochoa-Lopez.
Prosecutors said she managed to get her fingers under the cord around her neck and Clarisa Figueroa yelled at her daughter, “You’re not doing your f—ing job!”
Desiree Figueroa then pried Ochoa-Lopez’s fingers from the cord while Clarisa Figueroa continued to strangle the teen, prosecutors said.
Hours later that same day, Clarisa Figueroa came running out of the home claiming she had just given birth to a baby boy and that he wasn’t breathing.
A judge set figueroa’s next court date for Sept. 15.