Women indicted in death of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, whose baby was cut from her womb
06/13/2019 6:14 am PDT
By Tonya Francisco, WGN
CHICAGO (WGN) -- Two women faced a judge for the first time on charges they murdered Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.
Clarissa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree Figueroa were formally charged Wednesday with first-degree murder for killing the 19-year-old pregnant mother then cutting her baby from her womb.
Figueroa's boyfriend Piotr Bobak is charged with covering up the death. Bobak hired private attorney Hal Garfinkel who claims Bobak is innocent of all charges.
“Mr. Bobak has absolutely no knowledge at all of the fact that the Figueroas were involved, were planning a murder and, of course, Mr. Bobak had absolutely no knowledge that there was a victim of a homicide on the premises where he wasn't even living there, where he was staying infrequently,” Garfinkel said.
Frank Avila, the attorney for Ochoa-Lopez's husband Yovani Lopez, said he is outraged by Bobak's claims of innocence.
“Mr. Bobak is disgusting for claiming that he's innocent,” Avila said. “He has no shame. He was there. The witnesses say he was there. He was cleaning blood off the carpet and he would know if his girlfriend that he lives with is pregnant or not.”
Avila called for the Cook County State's Attorney to bring more charges against the three for causing severe brain damage to Lopez's son, also named Yovani, who doctors said was deprived of oxygen when his mother was strangled. The baby remains in intensive care unable to breath, eat or swallow on his own.
“He suffered irrevocable brain damage,” Lopez Family Spokesman Julie Contreras said. “There's no medicine, no pill, no nothing that can fix that, only a miracle.”
MORE: Women indicted in death of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez whose baby was cut from her womb - WGN