A Woman Cuts the 7-month-old Baby Out of the Mother's Abdomen—the Baby Later Dies; Will She be Charged with Murder of the Baby? ...Or a 'Slap on the Wrist?'

Aimee Herd-Commentary : Mar 20, 2015
The Denver Post, Westword.com

"There's no way murder charges can be brought if it's not established that the fetus lived as a child outside the body of the mother for some period of time." -D.A. Garnett.

(Colorado)—If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... that's right, it's a duck. (Photo: Dynel Lane/Boulder County Sheriff's Office)

So, if it looks like a baby, moves like a baby, feels emotion and pain like a baby... wait, it's NOT a baby?!

As ridiculous as it sounds, this could be the case if a Colorado woman who—on Wednesday—literally ripped the BABY out of another woman's womb, is not charged with murder (of the baby) as well as attempted murder (of the woman).

Twenty-six-year-old Michelle Wilkins, who was 7-months pregnant at the time, reportedly answered a Craig's List ad for baby clothes at the home of Dynel Lane, someone she did not know.

As she was leaving, Lane allegedly wielded a knife and stabbed Wilkins, cutting the baby right out of her abdomen.

Wilkins somehow was able to escape to the basement of the home, and call 9-1-1.

According to the Denver Post report, while Wilkins lay waiting for police and bleeding out, Lane's husband came home and found his wife "covered in blood," which she told him was because she had miscarried.

Reports say she told her husband the baby was in the bathroom, and Lane's husband rushed both the baby and his wife to the hospital.

Police arrived some time later and found Wilkins indeed bleeding in the basement, just as she had told the 9-1-1 operator.

Officers caught up with Lane at the hospital who reportedly confessed to cutting out Wilkins' baby, after they questioned her, having found no immediate signs of a miscarriage (Lane refused an exam). She was arrested, but the official charges are still pending.

So, will Dynel Lane be charged with murder of Wilkins' baby? (Photo: Matthew Jonas, Longmont Times Call)

According to District attorney Stan Garnett, the question is whether the baby was able to live outside the womb.

"Under Colorado law," Garnett explained, "there's no way murder charges can be brought if it's not established that the fetus lived as a child outside the body of the mother for some period of time," Garnett said.

He added that the "period of time" a child would have to live outside the womb to be considered "a child" is yet to be determined.

However, when Lane's husband, David found the baby in the bathroom, he reportedly "rubbed the baby slightly then rolled it over to hear and see it take a gasping breath."

Not only that, but the hospital staff told police that "the seven-month fetus would have been viable," according to the Denver Post report.

Last November, voters in Colorado shot down Amendment 67 (The Brady Amendment), which would have "allowed a person suspected of killing a fetus to be charged with homicide."

Jennifer Mason from Personhood USA, the group that sponsored Amendment 67, commented on the sad case, "It's so tragic," she said.

"The first thing we thought of was the Brady Amendment," added Mason. "It leaves us to wonder how many times will things like this happen before there's real justice for pregnant women... Otherwise, criminals get away with murder."