CHICAGO—A 29-year-old Chicago woman has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder after authorities said she helped her mother kill a pregnant teenager whose baby was cut from her womb.
Desiree Figueroa’s plea was made Monday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. It stipulates that she testify against her mother, Clarisa Figueroa, whose first-degree murder trial is scheduled to start later this month, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The plea deal calls for Desiree Figueroa to receive 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors have said Clarisa Figueroa strangled 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez with a cable on April 23, 2019, after she was lured to the Figueroas’ home with the promise of free clothing for her unborn child. Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant. Clarisa Figueroa then called 911, saying she had given birth and the child was not breathing.
The child died about two months later.
Authorities say not long after Clarisa Figueroa’s adult son died of natural causes, she told her family she was pregnant. They say she plotted for months to acquire a newborn, and that she posted an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby on her Facebook page. In March 2019, she and Ochoa-Lopez connected on a Facebook page for pregnant women.
Detectives investigating Ochoa-Lopez’ disappearance learned that she had gone to the Figueroas’ home. Two weeks after her disappearance, police found her car parked nearby and were told by Desiree Figueroa that Clarisa Figueroa recently had given birth.
DNA tests later determined the child was not Clarisa Figueroa’s.
Ochoa-Lopez’s body was found in a garbage can outside the home.
Clarisa Figueroa tricked her boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, into believing he was the father, according to police and prosecutors.
Mr. Bobak cleaned up the crime scene and was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty last year to obstruction of justice.
About six months after Ochoa-Lopez was slain, Desiree Figueroa gave birth in jail to her own child.
