'KILLER' GRIN
Chilling pic shows ‘womb-raider’ smiling over critically ill baby ‘she ripped from murdered teen to pass off as her own child’
Clarisa Figueroa, 46, is accused of murdering the baby's teen mum
A CHILLING photo shows a woman smiling over a baby after she allegedly ripped him from the womb of his murdered pregnant mum to pass off as her own child.
Alleged "womb-raider" Clarisa Figueroa, 46, can be seen in a Chicago hospital with little Yavani Yadiel Lopez as the critically ill infant fights for life.
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Pregnant woman murdered in Chicago then has baby cut from the womb of her lifeless body
Figueroa was last week arrested and later charged over the murder of the baby's mum, 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.
High school student Marlen was strangled on April 23 after going to a house in Chicago to collect free baby clothes, police say.
Her killers then butchered the young mother - removing the baby from her womb before pretending the newborn was their own.
A DNA test on the suspects later revealed the little boy was of no relation to them.
MEDICS INVESTIGATED
It is unclear when the shocking photo was taken at the Advocate Christ Medical Center - which is now being investigated by Illinois state medical authorities.
Docs and medics there initially treated Yavani as though he was Figueroa's son after she appeared at the hospital covered in blood with the baby.
They appeared to believe that the boy was hers - despite her showing no signs of having gone into labour.
And medics failed to report her to authorities even after they concluded that Figueroa could not be the boy's true mother.
Figueroa claimed that she suddenly gave birth to the unresponsive baby - who she named Xander - at home on April 23.
The alleged baby-snatcher even set up a fundraising page to help get cash for the baby's funeral as he was receiving life-saving treatment.
MURDER CHARGES
Figueroa, 46, and her daughter Desiree, 24, have both been charged with first degree murder over the brutal slaying of Yavani's mum Marlen last month.
They appeared in a closed court last Friday to be told of their charges and will appear again on June 3.
Meanwhile, little Yavani - who doctors say has zero brain function - continues to fight on life support in hospital with his desperate family by his side.
A GoFundMe page is hoping to raise $25,000 (£19,640) for the baby's medical bills.
Tragic mum Marlen, who married the boy's dad Yovani in 2016 and was mum to their toddler son Joshua, was buried yesterday.
After the suspects' court appearance last week, prosecutors shared harrowing details of what detectives believe took place on the day Marlen died.
Arguing the suspects should not be released on bail, prosecutors also revealed the nine-month pregnant teenager was killed on her second trip to the house to collect free baby clothes.
HARROWING DETAILS
Clarisa Figueroa told her daughter Desiree in October last year that she was pregnant despite having had her Fallopian tubes tied, authorities claimed in a bond proffer last week.
And Clarisa told her daughter - who allegedly made a full confession to police - that she "needed help killing a pregnant woman and taking a baby", according to prosecutors.
Clarisa's posts on social media allegedly showed she was obsessed with babies and had been telling friends she was pregnant with a boy she planned to call Xander.
Marlen first visited the Figueroa's home on April 1 to collected baby clothes after Clarisa offered them for free on a page for new mums.
It was then that Clarisa allegedly told her daughter she wanted to kill Marlen and steal her baby.
But Marlen escaped without knowing of the murderous plot after Desiree's boyfriend Piotr Bobak, 40, refused to take part, according to detectives.
Marlen then returned on April 23, when Bobak was away, and Clarisa and Desiree carried out the harrowing murder, cops say.
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The court docs presented last Friday claim that Desiree - who is four months pregnant - and her mother switched on loud music after they invited Marlen inside.
Desiree then distracted Marlen with a photo album before mum Clarisa crept up behind her victim and strangled her with an electric cable.
Desiree is said the have then peeled away desperate Marlen's fingers from her neck as the struggle ensued.
After four or five minutes Marlen was dead, according to detectives.
It was then that Clarisa used a butcher knife and bucket to cut open her victim's womb and remove the baby and placenta, cops say.
Clarisa dialled 911 claiming she herself had just given birth and her baby was unresponsive.
Paramedics rushed her to hospital without seeing Marlen's body in the home, authorities claim.
DNA TESTS
Once at Advocate Christ Medical Centre she was cleaned of her victim's blood - with medics assuming it was her own despite her showing no signs of having gone through childbirth.
The hospital has declined to comment on the case.
It faces being stripped of its license after staff did not alert authorities even after they realised that Figueroa was not the boy's true mother.
Later Figueroa set up a GoFundMe page hoping to raise $9,000 (£7,070) for a funeral for her "sick baby" - claiming he was about to die.
But police acting on a tip off DNA tested the baby and discovered she was not his mother.
Marlen's body was discovered after Clarisa Figueroa, Desiree Figueroa, Piotr Bobak and another person were taken into custody.
CHILLING MESSAGES
Pictures posted on a Facebook group for new mums called 'Help A Sister Out' show Clarisa befriending Marlen.
On March 5, Clarisa said: "Who is due in May where is the May mama's at.
"Due to the fact that I'm in school and can't work at the moment, I can't afford to buy the rest of the things since I’m short on cash right now."
Marlen later said: "Hello ladies, I'm due May 10 and I still need a ton of things for my son."
Clarisa then posted a picture on Facebook three weeks later and said she was preparing for ";Xander"
But one friend who believed she had her "tubes tied" quizzed her.
Clarisa's boyfriend Piotr Bobak, 40, was charged with concealing the murder. A fourth suspect was released.
LURED WITH BABY CLOTHES
Cecelia Garcia, a spokeswoman for the victim's family, said: "She was giving clothes away, supposedly under the pretence that her daughters had been given clothes and they had all these extra boy clothes.
"We believe that she was murdered and we believe that the baby was forcibly removed following that murder," said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Marlen's car was found a block away from the suspect's home last month.
FAKE SCAN
During the disturbing investigation, cops found the suspected killer had posted about her baby 'Xander' as early as February - with pictures of a nursery ready for her new arrival.
Bobak also posted an ultrasound as his cover photo on Facebook.
Police later found that the photo is one often used to make fake scan pictures.
On her GoFundMe page, Figueroa wrote: "Baby Xander, despite all he is going through is a little fighter, and has already captured the hearts of many family members.
"Honouring the short life that baby Xander had is one small way to help provide closure and start the mourning process for the family."
I have a lot of pain, a lot of anguish, a lot of sadness. It’s painful to lose your wife, the woman you love the most. It’s painful
Yovani Lopez
Marlen disappeared on April 23 after leaving her high school and didn't pick her older son up from daycare.
An autopsy revealed that the teen died from "ligature strangulation".
Grief-stricken husband Yovani Lopez said earlier: “I have a lot of pain, a lot of anguish, a lot of sadness.
“It’s painful to lose your wife, the woman you love the most. It’s painful.”
He said those responsible for the murder “don’t know the pain they’ve caused” his family.
“We’re gonna have justice with those responsible,” he told reporters. “We’re gonna go hard after them.
"We won’t let it go.”
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said of the three suspects: "We believe all of them played some role in this unspeakable act of violence.
"We believe that she was murdered and we believe that the baby was forcibly removed following that murder."
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
Yovani Lopez was this week pictured cuddling his baby son in hospital.
Little Yavani's devastated family say that they have no intention of taking him off life support machine.
But the baby has suffered brain damage and people close to the infant have said his condition "doesn't look good".
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Police release details of the pregnant teen murder which saw twisted ‘womb raider’ luring mum to her death before cutting out her baby
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