A pregnant woman was attacked and had her baby cut from her womb when she responded to a Craigslist ad posted by a stranger, police in Colorado said Wednesday.
Longmont Police said the alleged female assailant, identified Thursday as Dynel Catrece Lane, later showed up at a local hospital with the dead baby, claiming to have had a miscarriage. Lane, 34, is facing charges of first-degree attempted murder, assault and child abuse.
Officers were called to a home over a reported stabbing on Wednesday afternoon and found a 26-year-old woman who had been beaten, stabbed in the stomach and had her baby removed. The victim, whose name was not being released, underwent surgery at Longmont United Hospital and is expected to survive, police said.
Lane was arrested several hours later when she brought the dead baby to the same hospital. Longmont Police Commander Jeff Satur said Lane's husband drove her to the emergency room, thinking the child was alive, but is not himself considered a suspect, NBC affiliate KUSA reported.
The victim — who had been seven months pregnant — and alleged assailant didn't know each other and were supposed to be meeting at the suspect’s home about an ad for baby clothes she posted to Craigslist, according to NBC affiliate KUSA.
Lane, who has two children of her own, has been booked into the Boulder County Jail, police told KUSA.