DENVER (AP) — A Colorado woman accused of cutting the unborn baby from an expectant mother's belly will not face murder charges in the gruesome attack that revived the highly charged debate over when a fetus can legally be considered a human being.
Prosecutors did not explain the decision Thursday or reveal what charges will be filed in the attack that killed the unborn baby girl. The mother, who was about eight months pregnant, survived and left the hospital Wednesday.
Dynel Lane, 34, lured Michelle Wilkins, 26, to her home March 18 with an ad on Craigslist selling baby clothes, investigators say. Inside, Lane stabbed Wilkins and removed the child, police say.
Lane had told her family she was pregnant, and when her husband came home early from work to meet her for a prenatal appointment, he found the infant in a bathtub, authorities said. Lane said she had a miscarriage, and he took them to the hospital, where the baby was pronounced dead.
Catherine Olguin, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, said Thursday night that prosecutors won't bring a murder charge in the baby's death.
District Attorney Stan Garnett plans to give out more information Friday, and the coroner's office is expected to release the findings of an autopsy performed on the baby.
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