Woman convicted of killing pregnant woman, cutting out baby

A woman faces up to 50 years to life in prison after being convicted of murder and kidnapping in the death of a pregnant woman whose baby was cut out of her womb. (Photo by Torsten Mangner/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

NEW YORK — A woman faces up to 50 years to life in prison after being convicted of murder and kidnapping in the death of a pregnant woman whose baby was cut out of her womb.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark says Ashleigh Wade was found guilty Thursday. Prosecutors accused the Bronx woman of killing a childhood friend, Angelikque Sutton, in November 2015 when Sutton stopped by Wade’s home on her way to her civil wedding ceremony. Sutton was eight months pregnant.

Authorities say Wade slashed Sutton in the throat, took out her uterus and cut out the baby. The girl survived.

Wade’s attorney, Amy Attias, had told jurors that Wade had undiagnosed mental illness. She says she had hoped jurors would have come to a resolution that involved mental health treatment.