Washington (PTI): In a horrific incident, a woman in the US allegedly stabbed a pregnant woman in the stomach and removed her unborn baby from the womb when the expectant mother had gone to her house to buy baby clothes advertised online.
The 34-year-old accused, who has been arrested, allegedly posted an online advertisement offering baby clothes to sell, but when the 26-year-old victim, who was seven months pregnant, arrived at the given address at Longmont in Colorado she was beaten and stabbed.
When police reached the house after receiving reports of a woman screaming, the officers found the victim, who had been beaten and stabbed in the stomach, the Daily Times-Call reported.
The victim was rushed to a hospital where she underwent surgery and is expected to recover, but the baby did not survive.
Police located the suspect at the hospital after she arrived with the baby and said she had suffered a miscarriage, a police official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Investigators have not released the names of the accused or the pregnant woman but said they did not know each other.
The suspect may be mentally ill, officials said.
“This is a tragic case for a mother right now. She came by this house. She was attacked, and her baby was removed from her,” Longmont police Cmdr Jeff Satur said.
The attacker has been arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and child abuse knowingly and recklessly resulting in death. Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office will consider what formal charges to file as it involves an unborn child.
“The issues involving an unborn child are complicated under Colorado law,” he said. “In most circumstances, if a child was not actually born alive, then homicide charges are not possible,” he said.
