Homicide

Woman charged with cutting fetus from stranger's womb pleads not guilty to attempted murder

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Dynel Lane, accused of attacking Michelle Wilkins and cutting the Longmont woman's unborn child from her womb, is arraigned on attempted-murder charges in Boulder District Court in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, July 23, 2015. (Matthew Jonas/The Daily Times Call via AP) NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Defense attorneys Jennifer Wickens, left, and Kathryn Herold sit with Dynel Lane, center, accused of attacking Michelle Wilkins and cutting the Longmont woman's unborn child from her womb, during her arraignment on attempted-murder charges in Boulder District Court in Boulder Colo., on Thursday, July 23, 2015. (Matthew Jonas/The Daily Times Call via AP) NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Dynel Lane, accused of attacking Michelle Wilkins and cutting the Longmont woman's unborn child from her womb, is led into the courtroom before she is arraigned on attempted-murder charges in Boulder District Court in Boulder Colo., on Thursday, July 23, 2015. (Matthew Jonas/The Daily Times Call via AP) NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

The woman accused of cutting the unborn child out of a pregnant stranger's womb earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

The Denver Post (http://tinyurl.com/pjpdyjr ) reports that Dynel Lane showed little emotion at Thursday's hearing in Boulder County court. Prosecutors say Lane lured 26-year-old Michelle Wilkins to her home on March 18 with an online ad selling maternity clothes, attacked the 8-months-pregnant Wilkins and removed the fetus.

Wilkins survived, but her baby did not. Prosecutors could not charge Lane with murder because a coroner found no evidence the fetus lived outside the womb, so they charged her with unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

Colorado has twice rejected proposals that would make the violent death of an unborn child a homicide, fearing they could interfere with abortion rights.

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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com