A Horrific Crime In Colorado

This week, a female assailant stabbed a pregnant Colorado woman in the belly, ripping the fetus from the womb, according to Colorado authorities. A 34-year old woman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and child abuse knowingly and recklessly resulting in death, AP reports. The pregnant woman had apparently travelled to the suspect’s house in order to purchase baby clothes the latter had advertised on Craigslist, when the attack occurred.

“Officers arrived on scene and could hear a female calling for help inside the home,” a statement from Longmont Police said. It continues:

Officers entered the home and located a female who had been beaten and stabbed in the stomach … It was later learned, the female was pregnant and her baby had been removed. The victim was transported to the Longmont United Hospital where she underwent surgery and is expected to recover.

The victim, 26, was seven months pregnant. Her baby did not survive.

In a macabre twist, the assailant — who had not been arrested at the scene of the crime, in the 1600 block of Green Place in Longmont — then travelled to Longmont United Hospital. She arrived claiming she had suffered a miscarriage, according to Daily Camera. She was arrested at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday at the hospital.

Police Commander Jeff Satur said the victim and attacker were not acquainted. Officials have suggested that the suspected attacker may be mentally ill — as no other motive is apparent — and no names have so far been released. “This is a tragic case for a mother right now,” said Satur. “She came by this house. She was attacked, and her baby was removed from her.”

The suspect's husband, in a somewhat unfathomable gesture of support, drove her and the extracted fetus to the hospital, before returning home. He was later escorted to the hospital but is not a suspect, according to the police commander.

Police are currently attaining a search warrant for the suspect's home, according to the Houston Chronicle. Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett will now contemplate which charges are appropriate in the circumstances. Daily Camera quotes him as saying:

The issues involving an unborn child are complicated under Colorado law … In most circumstances, if a child was not actually born alive, then homicide charges are not possible. With a case like this, most of the time charges would not need to be filed until sometime next week.

Images: Getty Images (1); Longmont Times-Call (1)