Baby Cut From Dead Teen Mom's Womb Opens Eyes for the First Time

The baby who was cut from a young teenage mother's womb before she was reportedly murdered has opened his eyes for the first time on May 20.

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Published: 5/21/2019, 7:13:41 AM EDT

Baby Cut From Dead Teen Mom's Womb Opens Eyes for the First Time — Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, seen in a file photo, was killed in late April. (Chicago Police Department)

The baby who was cut from a young teenage mother's womb before she was reportedly murdered has opened his eyes for the first time on May 20.

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant when she went missing on April 23, and her body was found last week. Her cause of death was strangulation and her baby was forcibly removed from her body, police said. Ochoa-Lopez was 19 when she died.

A spokesperson for Ochoa-Lopez's family told NBC Chicago that Ochoa-Lopez's father visited his grandson in the hospital on May 19, when the baby opened his eyes.

The baby remains in a critical condition and was on life support in a hospital in Chicago as of May 18, NBC Chicago reported. The family called him a "fighter." The baby will be assessed for brain activity this coming week.

Yovani Lopez, the widower of Ochoa-Lopez, said that the family had been praying for a miracle. Earlier reports had said that the boy is brain dead and not expected to survive.

A funeral will be held for the 19-year-old mother at Mount Auburn Funeral Home on May 25 at 9 a.m. with a chapel service at 11 a.m., her family told NBC Chicago.

Police said that 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa murdered Ochoa-Lopez on April 23 at a South Side home and then cut the baby out of her womb.

Ochoa-Lopez was visiting the home to supposedly pick up free baby items—a meeting that had been arranged over Facebook.

After cutting the baby out of the 19-year-old mother's womb, Figueroa then allegedly phoned 911 to say she had just given birth to a baby who wasn’t breathing, according to police.

Paramedics transported Figueroa to the hospital in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, where she reportedly underwent a physical exam that determined she had not given birth.

Police announced May 16 that three people had been arrested and charged in connection with Ochoa-Lopez’s death.

L-R: Desiree Figueroa, Clarisa Figueroa, and Piotr Bobak. The trio of suspects have been arrested and charged, according to an announcement by authorities on May 16, 2019. (Chicago Police Department) — L-R: Desiree Figueroa, Clarisa Figueroa, and Piotr Bobak. The trio of suspects have been arrested and charged, according to an announcement by authorities on May 16, 2019. Chicago Police Department

At a news conference, Chicago police said that Figueroa and her 24-year-old daughter, Desiree Figueroa, would face charges of first-degree murder. Meanwhile, Figueroa's boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, is charged with concealment of a homicide.

Lopez, the father, recently provided new photos showing him cuddling the baby.

Officials Not Alerted

Police and Illinois’s child welfare agency said staff at Advocate Christ Medical Center in suburban Oak Lawn didn’t alert them after finding that Figueroa did not give birth to the baby boy as she claimed.

Prosecutors said that when Figueroa was brought with the baby to the hospital, she had blood on her upper body and her face, which a hospital employee cleaned off. They also said Figueroa was examined at the hospital and showed no physical signs of childbirth.

On May 18, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Jassen Strokosch said that the agency had been alerted on May 9 that there were questions about who had custody of the child in order to make medical decisions. He said he couldn’t speculate about why the agency wasn’t contacted sooner.

“We don’t know what was happening at the hospital,” he said.

The Epoch Times' reporters Tom Ozimek and Jack Phillips, and The Associated Press contributed to this article.