Mother loses baby after fetus cut from womb, police say

LONGMONT, Colo., March 19 (UPI) -- A Colorado mother-to-be lost her unborn baby Wednesday after responding to a Craigslist ad offering baby clothes -- the fetus was physically cut from her womb, and died before arrival at the hospital, authorities said.

The 26-year-old expectant mother was lured to a home in Longmont about 35 miles north of Denver, through the online classified ad.

"She was shopping on Craigslist and she came to this house to buy baby clothes," Longmont police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said in a report by CBS Denver. "When she got here, she got assaulted and was stabbed and her baby was removed."

After receiving a call reporting the attack, police and emergency personnel arrived and rushed the woman to Longmont United Hospital, the Denver Post reported Wednesday. She received a serious wound but is expected to survive. The baby was just seven months along, officials said.

"This is a tragic case for a mother," Cmdr. Satur said.

At the same time the victim was at the hospital, police say the 34-year-old suspect identified as Dynel Catrece Lane also arrived there -- with a dead baby in her arms, claiming that she had miscarried. She was immediately taken into custody and is likely to be charged on several counts, including attempted first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.

The suspect's husband drove her to the hospital, police said, but investigators don't believe he was involved in the attack and is not a suspect. Investigators do not believe the women knew each other prior to the attack, Denver's KUSA-TV reported.

Authorities say they aren't yet certain why the unidentified suspect, who already has two children of her own, attacked the victim and stole her unborn baby. However, authorities are looking into the possibility that she may be mentally ill, the Post reported.

The suspect is set to make her initial court appearance Thursday afternoon. Detectives served a search warrant at the woman's home late Wednesday.

Although the attack was directly responsible for the baby's death, Boulder County's district attorney said the fact that it had not yet been born makes filing appropriate charges unique -- and a murder charge impossible.

"Issues involving an unborn child are complicated under Colorado law," Boulder County D.A. Stan Garnett said in the Post report. "In most circumstances, if a child was not actually born alive, then homicide charges are not possible. With a case like this, most of the time charges would not need to be filed until sometime next week."