‘Womb raider’ on trial: “Ms Sutton could not scream”
A pregnant bride was allegedly murdered by a ‘womb raider’ who slashed her throat and cut open her stomach to remove her unborn child, a court heard. Angelikque Sutton was on her way to marry Patrick Bradley when she dropped by the home of her childhood friend Ashleigh Wade, who had a calculated plan to murder her but keep the baby alive in 2015, prosecutors said. Ms Sutton, who was nearly nine months pregnant, believed Wade had a wedding gift for her at her home in the Bronx, New York City, but instead she slashed her friend’s voice box so she could not scream, before removing her uterus, the court heard. Wade has pleaded not guilty to the charges and her murder trial began on Monday. Incredibly her baby girl Jenasis survived and turns two this November, which was “proof of the calculation and precision of the attack”, the New York Post reports. In opening statements, Assistant Bronx DA Meredith Holtzman told the jury that Wade had previously pretended she was pregnant. She said: “This was an attack that took place in stages. The defendant cut Ms Sutton’s larynx — her voice box. Ms Sutton could not scream, could not say a word. She cut her major blood vessels. What the defendant did to her next is almost unspeakable. Because after she had rendered Ms Sutton unable to scream, unable to move, the defendant took a kitchen paring knife and sliced Ms Sutton’s abdomen open at the bottom half. Once she had cut Ms Sutton’s abdomen open, the defendant cut Ms Sutton’s uterus entirely out. She cut that uterus open, took baby Jenasis out, and discarded that uterus on the bathroom floor.” Jurors were shown horrifying photos of the bloody scene and Ms Sutton’s remains - including a picture of her uterus. Ms Holtzman said: “The defendant needed for Ms Sutton to die, and she needed for Jenasis to live. She had baby clothes, baby shoes, diapers, formula, a crib, everything that an expectant mother would need, except a baby. She didn’t have a baby. For that she needed Angelikque Sutton.” Police arrived at the crime scene in Wakefield roughly 30 minutes after the killing. Wade was found by her boyfriend cradling the baby girl next to her mother’s body. She also screamed at police “It’s my baby!” as they took her into custody, the court heard. Officer Jonathan Polanco Ortiz testified that the crime scene he went to that day “left a mark on his soul”. He said Wade confessed to the murder as soon as police arrived. Wade faces life in prison if she is found guilty.
(mirror.co.uk)