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Dynel Lane: Woman Who Cut Baby From Mother’s Womb Sentenced To 100 Years In Prison

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 15:00 PST, Apr 29, 2016

Dynel Lane has been sentenced to 100 years in prison.

According to CNN, Lane was found guilty in February for attacking Michelle Wilkins, who was seven-months-pregnant at the time, and cutting her baby from her womb. Wilkins had reportedly responded to Lane’s online ad for maternity and baby clothes, and when she arrived, she was choked and stabbed until she was unconscious. Lane then cut open Wilkins’ stomach, removed the baby, and carried her from the basement, leaving Wilkins to die.

Although Wilkins survived the horrific attack, her baby girl, who she planned to name Aurora, did not. Prosecutors claim Lane had been spending the previous year falsifying a pregnancy. Following the attack, Dynel was met by her partner, who rushed her to the hospital, under the impression that she was having a miscarriage. When she arrived, however, Dynel was met by the police after Michelle managed to lock herself in a room and call 911.

When questioned by the authorities, Dynel admitted to cutting the baby from Michelle’s womb, but said she only did so in self-defense. Lane claimed Wilkins attacked her first, and she only removed the baby from her uterus to try and save it.

In February, nearly a year after the attack took place, Dynel Lane was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy. Because Colorado law does not recognize a fetus as a person unless it is capable of surviving for a period of time outside the womb, Lane was not charged with murder for Aurora’s death. On Friday, Lane was sentenced to 100 years in prison for her crime.

Boulder County DA Stan Garnett spoke on behalf of Michelle and Aurora, and explained what all Lane stole from Michelle and her husband. His words weighed heavily on Chief District Judge Maria Berkenkotter’s decision.

“They won’t get to watch as she decides who she is or what she wants to do with her life,” Berkenkotter said. “Ms. Lane, you stole that from Michelle.”

While giving a victim impact statement on Friday, Wilkins said: “You knowingly left me to die multiple times.”

“The only tears you shed during the trial were those of self-pity, to the sound of your own voice as your lies were slowly revealed. Yet even now you cannot come clean about what actually occurred. You embrace your narcissistic fantasy to fulfill the lie you created and it was more important than my right to live and Aurora’s right to live. I believe you should receive the maximum penalty because I believe that you have lost the privilege to live in our society.”

According to KWGN, Garnett and Wilkins spoke at a press conference following Lane’s sentencing, and said they feel justice was done and they are happy with Lane’s sentence.

“I’ve never seen a case as vicious, as cruel, as deliberate and awful as this,” said Garnett. “People are capable of doing horrible things. When that happens, society needs to respond appropriately. In this case, I believe justice was done and we’re pleased with the sentencing in this case.”

“For me, it felt gratifying to be seen and acknowledged by the judge. Judge Berkenkotter was clearly listening to everything that we were saying,” Wilkins added. “In this whole process, it’s hard to feel acknowledged because Dynel in any outward sense is not taking any accountability except in the judicial process. So in that sense, it feels that justice was served.”

[Photo by AP Photo/ Longmont Police Department, File]

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