New York, March 28 (IANS): A woman in Colorado accused of stabbing a pregnant woman and removing her seven-month-old foetus has been charged with eight counts of felony and faces potentially more than 100 years in prison.
A former nursing aide in Colorado who allegedly attacked a young pregnant woman and removed her foetus, killing it in the process and leaving the mother severely injured, was charged with attempted murder and seven other felonies.
According to police, on March 18, former nursing aide Dynel Lane, 34, lured Michelle Wilkins, 26, into her home in Longmont.
Wilkins was responding to a Craigslist ad for baby clothes when Lane attacked her.
Lane is also charged with assault and unlawful termination of pregnancy, The Colorado Public Radio reported. She could face "upto 100 years" in prison if convicted on all counts, the police said.
Boulder county District Attorney Stanley L. Garnett on Friday said that a preliminary autopsy of the unborn child, whom Wilkins named "Aurora", concluded that the foetus did not exhibit signs of life outside the womb.
That result prompted Garnett to forego filing murder charges. Final results of the autopsy will be released once all tests are finished.
Current laws in the state of Colorado do not recognise unborn babies as persons because of which murder charges cannot be presented against Lane for the death of the foetus.
Lane was detained at a local jail with her bail set at $2 million.
Wilkins was possibly attacked on entering the house and the foetus was removed from her womb.
Despite her critical condition, the woman managed to call 911, the US emergency number, and was aided by medical personnel before being taken to a hospital in the area.
The Craigslist account in question has been frozen and is now a part of ongoing investigations, according to the attorney.
Lane was arrested once she arrived at the hospital where the victim was admitted with a dead foetus, claiming to have suffered a miscarriage. The police took little time to connect the two circumstances and arrested her.
The motive of the attack remains unknown.