The trial has been postponed for the woman charged with strangling Marlen Ochoa-Lopez and cutting out her unborn child.

Lawyers for Clarisa Figueroa told a judge Friday that hospitals and mental health providers have not turned over records on Figueroa’s daughter, who last week reached a plea deal with prosecutors that will land her a 30-year sentence in exchange for cooperation against her mother. 

Jury selection had been set to begin next Friday.

Judge Peggy Chiampas agreed to put off the trial until Figueroa’s lawyers get the files, a process that could take weeks. The next hearing in the case is set for Feb. 29.

Provided; Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

Shortly after her arrest four years ago, Desiree Figueroa told police that her mother had hatched a plan to kill a pregnant woman in order to claim the child as her own. 

Desiree said she helped her mother strangle Ochoa-Lopez in the living room of their South Side home, and watched as Clarisa used a kitchen knife to cut open the teen’s abdomen.

Clarisa Figueroa then called 911 and said she had given birth to a child that was not breathing. The child suffered serious brain damage and died after seven weeks on life support.

Police found Ochoa-Lopez’s body in a trash can behind Figueroa’s home in the 4100 block of West 77th Place, a few blocks from where the teen’s car was discovered. 

Piotr Bobak, Clarisa Figueroa’s boyfriend, was using bleach to clean off a blood-stained rug at the house when police arrived to conduct a search. Bobak was charged with concealing a homicidal death and is serving a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty and agreeing to also testify against Clarisa.

Desiree Figueroa also told officers that she had mental health issues that required medication, and that she had stopped taking her pills because they “gave me the shakes.”