“We are thankful for the outpouring of love and support from the local community and others who have expressed their condolences. We know you are grieving too,” the family said.
A judge ordered Lane to remain in jail on $2 million bond after Assistant Boulder County District Attorney Ryan Brackley described the crime as “extremely violent” and premeditated.
Lane’s lawyer Kathryn Herold did not comment on her behalf at the hearing.
Under Colorado law, Lane could only face a murder charge if the baby was alive outside the womb, an emotional issue in the state. Abortion opponents in Colorado have unsuccessfully pushed measures to declare a fetus a human being, which would enable homicide charges to be filed for their deaths.
In a sign of how critical the issue will be, Lane’s defense lawyer has asked for an expert to be present during the examination.
Garnett would not comment on whether mental illness is a question in the case but said prosecutors were looking at Lane’s history.
State records show Lane has an expired nurse’s aide license. One of her two teenage daughters told police Lane showed her an ultrasound photo of a baby boy in December 2014, according to the affidavit. The teen said she couldn’t tell her mother was pregnant, and she is petite. Yet the girl said her mother also kept photos of herself appearing pregnant on a cellphone.
Lane and her former husband lost a 19-month-old boy in a drowning accident in southern Colorado’s Pueblo County in 2002, Lane’s ex-father-in-law, Aaron Cruz, said.
Cruz said the couple was devastated by the child’s death. However, he said Lane seemed like a “fine parent” and relatives were shocked to learn of the accusations against her.
A July 2002 obituary for Lane’s son, Michael Alexander Cruz, in the Pueblo Chieftan said the boy loved playing with his sisters, cousins and friends and had just learned to sing his first song, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
Lane’s then-husband wasn’t home at the time of the drowning, the newspaper reported. She and their two daughters, then 5 and 3, searched for the boy until they found him in the fish pond.
He had been playing with his sisters while their mother was busy in another part of the house, the newspaper said.
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