North Dakota woman cut child from neighbor's womb

A North Dakota woman who earlier admitted killing a pregnant neighbor to get her baby did it by cutting the baby from the mother's womb as she faded in and out of consciousness, prosecutors said Friday.

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2017, file photo, Brooke Crews, who is accused of killing a pregnant neighbor so she and her boyfriend could keep the baby, appears in state district court in Fargo, N.D., on with attorney Steven Mottinger. Crews, who pleaded guilty in the killing to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder, and lying to law officers in the death of 22-year-old Savanna Greywind, of Fargo, in August 2017, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, in Fargo. (Michael Vosburg/The Forum via AP, Pool)

Brooke Crews, 38, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in a hearing that for the first time detailed the August death of Savanna Greywind, 22, of Fargo.

Ashton Matheny, the baby's father, said learning how his baby was born and his girlfriend died "tore me apart." Greywind's mother, Norberta Lafontaine-Greywind, fought back tears, but said she was satisfied with the sentence — the toughest Crews could have received.

Prosecutors said the two women argued, and Greywind was pushed and briefly knocked out before Crews began cutting her. Greywind eventually bled to death, they said.

East Central District Judge Frank Racek cited the predatory and cruel nature of the crime in handing down the maximum sentence.

Crews, wearing orange prison clothing and cuffed at the wrists, cried as she read a statement of apology. She said she wished she could take the family's pain.

FILE - This file photo provided by the Cass County Sheriff's Office in Fargo, N.D., shows Brooke Crews, who pleaded guilty Dec. 11, 2017, to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder and lying to law officers in the killing of a pregnant neighbor in August 2017 so she and her boyfriend could keep the baby. Crews is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, in Fargo. (Cass County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

"There is no excuse. There is no rationalization. There is nothing," she said. Later, she showed no emotion as the judge passed sentence.

Crews' boyfriend, William Hoehn, faces a May trial in the case. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had cited his pending trial in withholding public details of Greywind's death earlier.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of life in prison with no parole. Defense attorney Steven Mottinger had asked for less, pointing out Crews admitted guilt without any promise of leniency.

"Acceptance of responsibility is important," Mottinger said in court. "It has to mean something."

Greywind was eight months pregnant when she disappeared in August, sparking extensive searches. Kayakers found her body wrapped in plastic in a river. The baby was found alive in the apartment Crews shared with Hoehn.

Norberta LaFontaine-Greywind, one of four family members to give statements during sentencing, said that what Crews did was "beyond evil," and said she was suffering horrific nightmares. Her husband, Joe Greywind, said the family is trying to heal, "but we find it nearly impossible."

Brooke Crews leaves Cass County District Court in fargo, N.D., on Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, after her sentencing for conspiring to murder Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind. (David Samson /The Forum via AP, Pool)

Fargo Police Chief Dave Todd earlier called Greywind's death a "cruel and vicious act of depravity."

Crews initially claimed that Greywind gave up her newborn daughter, but she later admitted taking advantage of the woman to get the child, according to court documents.

Hoehn told police he came home on Aug. 19 to find Crews cleaning up blood in their bathroom. Hoehn said Crews presented him with an infant girl and said: "This is our baby. This is our family." Hoehn told police he took garbage bags containing bloody shoes and his bloody towels and disposed them away from the apartment complex.

A bill in Congress aimed at protecting Native American women and girls from violence, abduction and human trafficking is named for Greywind. Savanna's Act, introduced by Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp would improve tribal access to certain federal crime information databases and create standardized protocols for responding to cases of missing and murdered Native Americans.

It also would require an annual report that would include statistics on missing and murdered Native American women.

Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind's boyfriend Ashston Matheny holds their daughter, Haisley Jo, as victim impact statements are read during the sentencing of Brooke Crews at the Cass County District Court in on Friday, Feb. 2, 2018. (David Samson /The Forum via AP, Pool)

"You would never wish this suffering on anybody, on anybody's family, on anybody's sister or daughter or mother," said Gloria Allred, attorney for the Greywind family. "But the only good that will come out of it ... is more attention to change on this issue for other Native American women in the future."

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday. Until that moment, the family was like so many other Palestinians trying to shelter from the war in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah.

Sabreen's father was killed. Her 4-year-old sister was killed. Her mother was killed.

But emergency responders learned that her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant. In a rush at the Kuwaiti hospital where the bodies were taken, medical workers performed an emergency cesarean section.

Little Sabreen was near death herself, fighting to breathe. Her tiny body lay in the recovery position on a small piece of carpet as medical workers gently pumped air into her open mouth. A gloved hand tapped at her chest.

She survived.

On Sunday, in the hours after the airstrike, she whimpered and wriggled inside an incubator at the nearby Emirati hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. She wore a diaper too big for her and her identity was scrawled in pen on a piece of tape around her chest: “The martyr Sabreen al-Sakani’s baby."

“We can say there is some progress in her health condition, but the situation is still at risk,” said Dr. Mohammad Salameh, head of the unit. “This child should have been in the mother’s womb at this time, but she was deprived of this right.”

He described her as a premature orphan girl.

But she is not alone.

“Welcome to her. She is the daughter of my dear son. I will take care of her. She is my love, my soul. She is a memory of her father. I will take care of her,” said Ahalam al-Kurdi, her paternal grandmother. She clutched her chest and rocked with grief.

At least two-thirds of the more than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since this war began have been children and women, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The other Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight killed 17 children and two women from an extended family.

Not everyone is immediately recovered after such attacks.

“My son was also with them. My son became body parts and they have not found him yet. They do not recognize him,” said Mirvat al-Sakani, Sabreen's maternal grandmother. “They have nothing to do with anything. Why are they targeting them? We don’t know why, how? We do not know.”

On Sunday, the survivors buried the dead. Children in bloodied wraps were placed in body bags and into the dusty ground as families wailed.

Little boys watched and tried to keep their footing at the edge of a grave.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

A Palestinian baby girl, Sabreen Jouda, who was delivered prematurely after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike along with her husband and daughter, lies in an incubator in the Emirati hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)

A Palestinian baby girl, Sabreen Jouda, who was delivered prematurely after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike along with her husband and daughter, lies in an incubator in the Emirati hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Jahjouh)