Pregnant teen allegedly murdered and her son cut from her womb after collecting free baby clothes

A teenage girl was lured to a house to collect free baby clothes. What happened next was described by police as something inconceivable.

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant when she was strangled to death and her baby cut out of her womb.

The 19-year-old from Chicago went missing three weeks ago after she visited a home in response to a Facebook offer of free baby clothes and a stroller from a group called “Help A Sister Out”.

According to CNN, Ms Ochoa-Lopez wrote she was jobless and short on cash and was willing to buy, trade or accept a donation.

A stranger then responded with a post offering new baby clothes and other unused items.

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was allegedly murdered and her unborn baby boy cut from her womb. Picture: Facebook

Ms Ochoa-Lopez’s body was later found dumped in a garbage bin behind the home where she was allegedly murdered, while her newborn, who was forcibly removed from her womb, remains on life support. He is suffering from brain damage.

According to Fox 32 News, three people have been charged — two are mother and daughter — with one pretending the baby was hers.

BIG BREAKTHROUGH BY FAMILY

Ms Ochoa-Lopez’s family had been relentlessly trying to find her, organising search parties, holding news conferences and pushing police for updates on the investigation, AP reported.

“The day before Marlen went missing, she gave her mother a big hug and told her, ‘You’re the best mom in the world’,” said Jacobita Cortes, a pastor at Adalberto Memorial United Methodist Church in Chicago, where the family has sought help, CNN reported.

“Her mother told me Marlen was always affectionate, but that day she seemed especially loving. And the next day Marlien disappeared.”

Arnulfo Ochoa, the father of Ms Ochoa-Lopez, is surrounded by family members and supporters as he walks into the Cook County medical examiner's office to identify his daughter's body. Picture: Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP

But it wasn’t until the 46-year-old woman, who said she had given birth to the baby, set up an online fundraising campaign that led to a break in the investigation, a spokeswoman for Ms Ochoa-Lopez’s family said.

Paramedics responded to the woman’s report of a newborn with breathing problems at the same house Ms Ochoa-Lopez visited.

A GoFundMe campaign was also set up, claiming the baby was about to die and money was needed for a funeral.

HEARTBREAKING: The family of the pregnant teen who was murdered cries as they walk into the medical examiner's building.

Three people have been charged in the death of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, whose baby was ripped from her womb https://t.co/CZqCEs3H2K pic.twitter.com/lopLW4SOLJ

— KRON4 News (@kron4news) May 16, 2019

THIS JUST IN: These are the mugshots of the three people charged -- two are mother and daughter -- in the death of slain pregnant teen Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. After she was strangled with a coaxial cable, her baby was cut out of her body. MORE: https://t.co/0E78C9aBIJ pic.twitter.com/A5QJMt4CtE

— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) May 16, 2019

The woman in question and the baby boy, who was in critical condition, were taken to hospital.

It was later confirmed Ms Ochoa-Lopez was the baby’s mother and not the woman as she had claimed.

Chicago police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi called it an “unspeakable act of violence”.

“We believe that she was murdered, and we believe that the baby was forcibly removed following that murder,” Mr Guglielmi said.

The baby’s DNA was also matched to the father, Yiovanni Lopez, 20.

He told reporters he understood his son was likely to die soon, but he still wasn’t giving up hope.

“We plead to God that he gives us our child because that is a blessing that my wife left for us,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter.

‘JUSTICE’ FOR MARLEN OCHOA-LOPEZ

On Wednesday evening, Mr Lopez said: “Why did these people, why did these bad people, do this? She did nothing to them.”

Yavani Yadiel Lopez is Marlen Ochoa-Lopez’s son. He is brain dead and on life-support at Christ Hospital where his family has decided to keep him on life-support.

Charges against the people responsible expected shortly.

You can help the family here: https://t.co/D7PUH1CJgQ pic.twitter.com/6LBjpgZ3Rf

— Dakarai Turner (@Dakarai_Turner) May 16, 2019

“She was a good person. We’re going to have justice with those responsible. We’re going to go hard after them. We won’t let it go.”

Ms Ochoa-Lopez’s father, Arnulfo Ochoa, broke down in tears while walking with relatives into the medical examiner’s building, where his daughter’s body was taken.

“Even though we found her without a life, at least we’re grateful that we found her. And we want justice — that’s what we want,” a distraught Mr Ochoa told AP.

His daughter was the oldest of four siblings and took on the role of caretaker. The 19-year-old was finishing up at Latino Youth High School.

Her mother Raquel Uriostegui was also in tears as she addressed a press conference where she described her daughter as an “angel”.

“She was an angel, and God called her,” Ms Uriostegui said through a Spanish interpreter.

“My daughter was a very joyful girl, she had a lot of dreams in her life and now she is in peace. She is not suffering anymore.”

The baby boy, who is named Yadiel Yadiel Lopez, remains in ICU and has no brain function, possibly due to lack of oxygen when he was forcibly removed from the womb.

Ms Ochoa-Lopez also left behind a three-year-old son.