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Mourners gather to remember Chicago woman whose baby was cut from her womb

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RICK MAJEWSKI/CHICAGO SUN-TIMES VIA AP

The funeral procession filled with friends and family of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez at Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Stickney, Ill., for the funeral of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.

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RICK MAJEWSKI/CHICAGO SUN-TIMES VIA AP

A mural for Marlen Ochoa-Lopez at 16th and South Newberry Ave in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.

STICKNEY, ILL. >> Hundreds of mourners, some carrying flowers and balloons, have gathered for the funeral of a Chicago woman who authorities say was strangled and her baby cut from her womb.

Nineteen-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was remembered as a tireless, loving mother at the funeral today in suburban Chicago.

Julie Contreras with the League of Young Latin American Citizens says Ochoa-Lopez went down fighting and that her baby boy, who is hospitalized in grave condition, is a miracle.

Prosecutors say Clarisa Figueroa claimed she had given birth to the baby when she took him to a hospital on April 23. Figueroa and her adult daughter have been charged with murder in Ochoa-Lopez’s death.

Activists are calling for a state law requiring hospitals to verify the identities of babies after reported home births.

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