The Gordon teenager charged with fatally stabbing her newborn in her family home has waived a preliminary hearing and been arraigned on amended charges.
16-year old Chloe Coplen-Anderson entered a Not Guilty plea in writing rather than in person last week to felony charges of 1st-Degree Murder, Felony Use of a Deadly Weapon, and Knowing and Intentional Child Abuse Resulting in Death.
Defense Attorney Bryan Craig says since Coplen-Anderson is under 18, she has 30 days from her arraignment to file a motion asking that her case be transferred to juvenile court.
The case began when Gordon police and EMTs received a call about 6:00 pm on Nov 6 about a juvenile giving birth at home and an infant who wasn’t breathing.
Court records show police were met at the door by Coplen-Anderson’s father, who said the baby had been stillborn and “that it was too late,” but when an officer went into the bedroom where the girl was, he found her mother crying hysterically and saying her daughter had hurt the baby
The officer said when he attempted to render first aid he found the infant had been stabbed several times on the left side of the chest and had its throat cut through the windpipe. EMTs took over the first aid, but couldn’t save the newborn.
The girl’s parents told police she’d gone into the kitchen about an hour earlier and opened a drawer that held a boning knife. They said they didn’t see her take it, but when asked to check for it by the officer found that it was missing.
Coplen-Anderson later told her mother she needed to go to a store for feminine hygiene products but shortly after she left, her mother said she found a large amount of blood on the floor and wall of the girl’s bedroom after seeing a family dog go in.
She said she confronted her daughter when she returned and that the girl admitted killing the newborn. Her father was called in and found the infant hidden in a closet. The 911 call followed.
Coplen-Anderson was taken by ambulance to Gordon Memorial Hospital, then airlifted to Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff where she underwent surgery.
Her parents allowed police to search the home and they recovered blood-soaked clothing and towels as well as other blood evidence. Officers returned about 11:00 pm after the girl’s father found the missing knife in her closet.