CHICAGO _ The younger of two women charged with cutting a baby from the womb and killing Marlen Ochoa Lopez _ a pregnant teenager who went missing last year and whose body later was found in a garbage can _ this month gave birth to her own child, authorities said.
Desiree Figueora, 25, who has been in custody since May 16 on murder and other charges related to Ochoa Lopez's death, gave birth Nov. 1 to her own child, according to Cook County Sheriff's Office spokesman Joseph Ryan.
Ryan said Figueroa was taken to Stroger Hospital where she gave birth. He said the sheriff's office could not release the gender of the baby she delivered and few other details could be released.
Desiree Figueroa and her mother, Clarissa Figueroa, each face charges including first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, dismembering a human body and concealing a homicidal death. They pleaded not guilty June 26 to charges they strangled pregnant 19-year-old Ochoa-Lopez and cut her baby from her womb.
The Tribune spoke with Ochoa Lopez's family in the months after a citywide search to locate the teenager alive. Her parents said they felt powerless during that time.
Ochoa-Lopez's mother and father talked about those days of panic, despair, grief and confusion _ about the silence from police, about crank calls and false leads and, finally, solid clues from friends and strangers gleaned from Facebook and GoFundMe pages.
