In Colorado, Dynel Catrece Lane (pictured above) was arrested after she attacked a pregnant woman and cut her seven-month-old unborn baby out of her womb. In this unbelievable act of violence, the baby died but the woman, Michelle Wilkins, survived. Currently, Lane is standing trial for attempted murder and unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
Unfortunately, prosecutors will not be able to bring charges for the unborn child’s death because Colorado state law does not regard unborn children as human beings who deserve justice when they are killed. This is because in 2013, Colorado Democrats killed a bill that would add the state to the list of more than 25 states that provide justice and protection for pregnant women and unborn children.
Now the Denver Post reports that before Lane cut out Wilkins’ baby, she stabbed her in the neck with a piece of glass and said, “If you love me, you would let me do this.” Apparently Wilkins responded and told her that she loved her in hopes that she would stop. Detective Stacey Graham explained, “Michelle is a holistic, loving, affectionate, outgoing person. She thought if she sent her love the attack would stop … She told Miss Lane that she loved her.” Additionally, Graham testified that Lane said she cut the baby out in order to save it.
Here’s more:
Michelle Wilkins told a Longmont police detective that as Dynel Lane held her down and tried smothering her with a pillow, she briefly thought that compassion could end the brutal attack.
“I love you,” Wilkins said as she struggled March 18 in the basement of Lane’s home, pinned down on the bed of one of her attacker’s daughters.
“If you love me, you’ll let me do this,” Lane replied, according to Wilkins’ account to police, before allegedly stabbing the pregnant woman in the neck and cutting out her 34-week-old unborn child.
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Wilkins’ version of the events was recounted Tuesday in a Boulder County courtroom where a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to move forward with a trial.
Detective Stacey Graham, the lead investigator on the case and the only witness to testify during Tuesday’s hearing, told the court how — in her first interview with Lane after the attack — the suspect, in a hospital maternity ward, was still clutching Wilkins’ fetus.
“Ms. Lane was sitting up in a bed,” Graham said, her voice wavering at times. “She was holding a baby and she was tearful and appeared shocked.”
As LifeNews previously reported, last month Colorado Republicans tried to pass an Unborn Victims of Violence law that would hold criminals accountable when they kill or injure unborn children in violent attacks against their mother. However, House Democrats killed the bill in a party-line vote of 6-5.
The sponsor of the legislation, Senate president Bill Cadman, said the following after Boulder prosecutors decided not to charge Lane for the death of baby Aurora: “This is a sad day for the mothers of Colorado, and for the fathers of Colorado. And for every Coloradan who was stunned to learn that no murder charges will be brought on behalf of a Longmont infant savagely cut from its mother’s body in one of the most horrific crimes in recent memory. Where’s the justice for that baby?”
Even though Lane wasn’t charged with the baby’s death, Wilkins’ family said they trust the prosecutors involved in the case to carry out justice. In a statement they said, “The Wilkins family deeply appreciates the support afforded to us by Stan Garnett and his team at the Boulder County District Attorney’s office. We are confident in their ability to successfully see that justice is carried out in a manner proportionate with the circumstances surrounding the attack on Michelle and the resulting tragic death of her soon to be born daughter Aurora. We endorse the charges chosen by the District Attorney and believe them to be correct and reflective of what is permissible under current Colorado law.
As a family, we believe that efforts to seek justice on behalf of Michelle and Aurora are now in the hands of Colorado’s Twentieth Judicial District — not in ours. We now choose to let the legal system run its proper course and will refrain from making any comments on the conduct of the court case until it is concluded and a verdict reached.”
