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Woman Who Cut Fetus Out of Former ASU Student Sentenced To 100 Years in Prison

The Longmont Times-Call and select media sat down with Michelle Wilkins after Lane’s conviction in February.

By Jesse Wood

On Friday, a Colorado judge handed down a 100-year sentence to the woman that cut a fetus from the womb of a former Appalachian State University student last year, according to the Denver Post.

Chief District Judge Maria Berkenkotter remarked on all of the things that the victim, Michelle Wilkins, who was 26 years old at the time of the attack, won’t ever be able to do with her daughter, Aurora.

“Aurora’s parents will never get to scoop her off a grocery store floor during a tantrum or hang her artwork on the refrigerator, Berkenkotter said,” according to the Denver Post.

“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.”

In February, Dynel Lane was convicted of attempted first-degree murder, two counts each of first- and second-degree assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

In March 2015, Lane attacked a pregnant Wilkins who was responding to a Craigslist ad to buy baby clothes at Lane’s home in Longmont, Colo.

Her visit turned into a horror story as Lane attacked Wilkins and cut out Wilkins’ unborn child, a girl who didn’t survive. After attacking Wilkins, Lane told her boyfriend, David Ridley, who had already been tricked into believing that Lane was pregnant and didn’t know of the attack, that she had a miscarriage,” according to a police report of the incident.

The couple drove to the hospital with the 7-month-old fetus, where hospital staff noticed that Lane didn’t show signs of recently giving birth. She admitted to detectives that she cut Wilkins’ abdomen and removed the fetus.

After the attack, Wilkins was able to lock herself in a room of Lane’s home and call 911. She told authorities where she was and they picked her up, bringing her to the same hospital that Lane was at, the Longmont United Hospital.

During the sentencing hearing, Wilkins showed a picture of Aurora “swaddled in a blanket. Her dark hair was thickest around her tiny ears,” the Denver Post reported.

“This is a picture of her,” Wilkins said looking at Lane.

The Post reported, “Wilkins again expressed forgiveness for Lane. But she also shared her frustration in Lane’s refusing ‘to acknowledge us’ or apologize.

“You left me there to die multiple times,” Wilkins said. “The only tears that you cried during the trial were those of your own self-pity.”