Desiree Figueroa, sentenced for her role in the brutal murder of pregnant Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, spoke in a Chicago courtroom on Thursday.
She admitted, “I can never apologize enough for what I did,” according to Chicago outlet WGN.
Judge Peggy Chiampas harshly echoed Desiree’s words, offering no leniency as she sentenced her to 30 years in prison.
“Your mom put you in the position you were in, and so did you,” Judge Chiampas stated.
“You’re right. You can never apologize. I want you to live with that for the rest of your life.”
In April 2019, Clarisa Figueroa, Desiree’s mother, lured Marlen Ochoa-Lopez to her Chicago home with an offer of free baby clothes.
At the time, Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant.
While Ochoa-Lopez was looking at a photo album of Clarisa’s recently deceased son, Clarisa took the opportunity to strangle her with a coaxial cable.
Prosecutors detailed that Ochoa-Lopez managed to get her hand under the cable, but Clarisa called out to her daughter and co-defendant, Desiree: “You’re not doing your f—— job.”
Police caught Clarisa’s boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, using bleach to clean a rug.
He later pleaded guilty to concealing a homicide and received a four-year prison sentence.
Desiree Figueroa took a plea deal for 30 years in exchange for testifying against her mother if the case went to trial. It never did. Clarisa Figueroa ultimately took a plea deal, receiving a 50-year sentence.
The child’s father, also named Yovanny Lopez, expressed his anguish in a statement read ahead of Clarisa Figueroa’s sentencing, as reported by WLS. “Your punishment will never be enough because my son will never be able to hug his mother ever!” he wrote.
In another statement read by WGN, he shared his pain and inability to face the woman who murdered his wife and took their baby from her body.
He feared her potential release and the possibility of her harming someone else.
The younger Figueroa received 1,843 days of time-served credit.
Pastor Julie Contreras, a spokesperson for Ochoa-Lopez’s family and a pastor for United Giving Hope, emphasized that the years of Desiree’s sentence were insufficient.
She described Desiree as “a real threat to our society,” calling her sentence too short for such a “demonic woman.”
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