A twisted Nebraska teen was handed a decades-long sentence Thursday for fatally slashing her newborn son’s throat just moments after secretly giving birth in her childhood bedroom, according to reports.
Chloe Coplen-Anderson, 18, will spend the next 35 to 60 years behind bars after pleading no contest to second-degree murder for the heartless killing, according to the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Prosecutors said the cold-hearted teen, who was 16 years old at the time, delivered the baby boy in secret at her Gordon home before retrieving a knife from the kitchen on Nov. 6, 2023.
The new mom, who hid her pregnancy from her parents, hurried back to her bedroom where she slit the just-born baby’s throat, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by People.
Police arrived at the home after the teen’s father reported that the baby wasn’t breathing — telling the responding officer the child was stillborn and “it was too late” to save him, court docs showed.
The officer rushed to the teen’s bedroom, where her distraught mother, who spotted “marks” on the slain baby, said her daughter was responsible for the infant’s death. Both parents also told the cop they saw their cruel child remove a knife from the kitchen earlier that day, the affidavit stated.
The lifeless newborn was found wrapped in a towel with a hacked windpipe and multiple stab wounds on the left side of his chest, according to court records reported by KOLN.
While police didn’t initially recover the murder weapon, they were later called back to the home after Coplen-Anderson’s father found the bloody knife in his daughter’s closet.
The teen’s attorney, Todd Lancaster, told People his client was abused by family members and the ruthless murder was the result of long-lasting trauma and other mental health conditions she suffered.
Lancaster also claimed the teen was impregnated by a 19-year-old at age 15.
Coplen-Anderson, who could be at least 76 years old when she walks free, has already served nearly two years behind bars. Her time in lockup was put toward her sentence, the outlet reported.
