Quote:
Originally Posted by Paraquat
Police: Pregnant woman's fetus cut from womb when she answers Craigslist ad
By Faith Karimi, CNN
Updated 11:13 AM ET, Thu March 19, 2015
Story highlights
Police ID woman charged with murder, assault and child abuse
The unborn baby did not survive, officials say
Police: The victim went to suspect's home to buy baby clothes advertised on Craigslist
(CNN)A stranger stabbed a pregnant woman who answered a Craigslist ad and cut her fetus from the womb, authorities said
Police say the woman who placed the ad offering baby clothes for sale, Dynel Lane, 34, attacked the victim in Longmont, Colorado, on Wednesday.
Lane is charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and child abuse knowingly/recklessly resulting in death, Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said.
It's expected that bond will be set at Lane's first court appearance, scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the Boulder County Jail, he said.
Authorities responding to a call heard a woman inside a home screaming for help, Satur said.
When officers entered the home, they found the 26-year-old pregnant woman with stab wounds in the abdomen. She told them her fetus was cut out of her womb, authorities said. The victim was seven months pregnant, CNN affiliate KMGH reported, citing police.
"She was assaulted and stabbed, and her baby was removed," Satur said.
The victim was transported to Longmont United Hospital, where she had surgery and is expected to survive.
"She is alert, answering questions and is with family," Satur said.
Police said the suspect arrived at the hospital with the fetus at the same time as the victim, claiming a miscarriage. The unborn baby did not survive.
The name of the victim has not been released, but police said she did not know her attacker. Detectives are searching the home of the suspect.
Longmont police are asking anyone who may have responded to a Craigslist ad for baby clothes, posted by "D" or "Dynel," or perhaps traveled to her home on Green Place in Longmont, to call (303) 651-8523.
A growing number of police stations have started offering "safe zones" for online sellers and buyers to conduct their transactions after recent deaths linked to the classified ads website.
In January, Elrey "Bud" Runion and his wife, June, were killed in Georgia when they went to look at a vintage car they'd asked to purchase through an ad on Craigslist. The man who apparently responded to their ad, claiming to have a car to sell, has been charged with murder.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/19/us/cra...ved/index.html |
No murder charge in case of baby cut from woman answering Craigslist ad
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux and AnneClaire Stapleton, CNN
Updated 10:36 AM ET, Fri March 27, 2015
Story highlights
A former nurse's aide is being held on $2 million bond
The victim stemmed her own bleeding while calling police
(CNN)A former nurse's aide will not face murder charges for allegedly cutting and removing an unborn baby from the mother's womb, Boulder County, Colorado, prosecutor Stanley Garnett said Thursday.
The mother, Michelle Wilkins, answered a Craigslist ad for baby clothes on March 18.
When she arrived at the purported seller's home in Longmont, she was attacked, beaten, cut open and her fetus was removed. The baby did not survive.
Wilkins was treated at a hospital and later released.
The alleged attacker, Dynel Lane, 34, is being held on a $2 million bond.
After the attack, prosecutors said it may be hard to muster a murder charge. Colorado state law does not recognize a fetus as a person, unless it is capable of surviving for a period of time outside the womb, a prosecutor said then.
But the extent of the period that the fetus must survive in order to be defined as a baby is not legally clear.
Lane's husband, David Ridley, told police he found the baby on the day of the attack in a bathtub taking a breath.
Victim's strength
While the attack on Wilkins has shocked her community for its brutality, many have also remarked on the 26-year-old's strength.
Bleeding and stunned in a stranger's basement, Wilkins managed to lock herself in a room to prevent any further violence, called 911 and did what she could to stem the bleeding.
Police officer Billy Sawyer, who responded to the call, said he and his partner weren't prepared for the grisly scene.
"She was covered in blood," Sawyer told CNN's Erin Burnett. Wilkins reached out for his hands for comfort. He held them and listened to her. "She did not know she was no longer with her child," he said.
Her strength and willpower had impressed him, as she directed him by phone to her location while she bled so heavily. "She is the only reason why she's alive right now," Sawyer said.
Wilkins' family started a GoFundMe page to raise money for her care. A note on the page said that she's "in a safe location" and "surrounded by family and friends."
More than $73,000 of the $75,000 goal have been raised so far.
The system fails again.