Dynel Lane sentenced to 100 years for attack
Judge cites mother-daughter bonds stolen from victim
Aurora Wilkins should be nearing her first birthday. Her parents should be watching her take her first steps. Her mother should know what her daughter’s smile looks like.
Instead, Michelle Wilkins stood before a judge on Friday and asked for the woman who cut Aurora from her womb to receive the harshest punishment possible.
Chief District Judge Maria Berkenkotter sentenced Dynel Lane to 100 years in prison for beating Wilkins unconscious and cutting her 7-month-old fetus from her body.
The details that weighed heaviest in Berkenkotter’s decision weren’t the things that Lane did. They were the things that Michelle Wilkins never got to do.
District Attorney Stan Garnett’s voice shook when he described the first words Wilkins never got to hear.
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.
“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.”
Lane, 35, was convicted on Feb. 23. After seven hours of deliberation, a Boulder County jury convicted Lane of one count of attempted first-degree murder, four counts of assault and one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy.
“You left me there to die multiple times. The only tears that you cried during the trial were those of your own self-pity.” Michelle Wilkins, speaking to Dynel Lane in court during Lane’s sentencing
Lane spent months faking a pregnancy before she lured Wilkins to her Longmont basement on March 18, 2015, with a Craigslist ad promising free maternity clothes.
In a frenzied attack, Lane beat Wilkins unconscious and removed her fetus using two kitchen knives.
Wilkins survived the attack. But prosecutors said her fetus never took a breath.
As a result, prosecutors said, Lane could not be charged in Aurora’s death.
Still, Wilkins and her family wanted Aurora to have her day in court. Before the judge handed down her sentence, Wilkins placed a poster-sized photograph of her daughter at the front of the packed courtroom, facing Lane.
The photograph showed Aurora swaddled in a blanket. Her dark hair was thickest around her tiny ears.
“This is a picture of her,” Wilkins said looking at Lane.
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.”
Lane wept as prosecutors played her 911 call during the trial in February.
Wilkins’ father, mother and sister also addressed the court and asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
Mark Wilkins, Michelle’s father, said the attack and death of baby Aurora has caused severe and permanent damage.
“This event has shattered our lives,” Wilkins said. “Some things just cannot be fixed.”
Garnett asked the judge to give Lane 118 years in prison.
“It won’t bring Aurora back, but it will send a message about human life,” he said.
Public defender Kathryn Herold asked the judge to let Lane’s sentences run concurrently.
She also told the judge that Lane plans to appeal her conviction and was advised not to make a statement or participate in the presentence investigation.
Lane’s family and friends expressed condolences to Michelle Wilkins. They described Lane as a caring, loving person and a dedicated mother to her two daughters.
Everyone who spoke on Lane’s behalf expressed shock that she would commit such a crime.
Carol DeHerrera, Lane’s mother, said Lane never recovered from the accidental drowning death of her young son, Michael. Lane’s desperation to have another child “caused her to make this choice,” DeHerrera said.
Lane, who did not speak during the hearing, wept as a friend read a letter from her daughter.
“Happy Mother’s Day,” the letter began. Lane’s daughter described girls nights with popcorn and cookie dough. She recounted times when her mother rushed to her side to provide comfort.
“No matter what you love unconditionally,” she wrote. “You were always there. Always.”
The letter was filled with all the loving moments that shaped Lane’s relationship with her daughter. The same moments Lane stole from Wilkins.
“Those are all the things I didn’t get to have with Aurora, because of Dynel,” Wilkins said.
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