Teen Grabbed a Knife and Cut Her Newborn’s Throat — When Asked Why, She Gave a Shocking Excuse

An 18-year-old girl from Nebraska named Chloe Coplen-Anderson has been sentenced to 35 to 60 years in prison after killing her newborn baby boy. This happened after she secretly gave birth in her childhood bedroom without telling anyone she was pregnant. News reports say she gave birth all alone at her family’s home in Gordon on November 6, 2023. After the baby was born, Chloe went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and came back to her room. Then, she used the knife to cut the baby’s throat.

At the time, Chloe was only 16 years old. She had kept her pregnancy a secret from her parents and everyone around her. According to a police report, after she killed the baby, she tried to act like the baby had been stillborn, meaning the baby was already dead when it was born. Her father called 911 and told the police that the baby wasn’t breathing and said it was too late to do anything to save him.

When police officers arrived at the house, they rushed to Chloe’s bedroom. Her mother, who was very upset, told the police that Chloe was the one who killed the baby. She had noticed strange marks on the baby’s body that made her suspicious. Both of Chloe’s parents also said they had seen her take a knife from the kitchen earlier that day.

When the police checked the baby, they found him wrapped in a towel. He had serious injuries: his windpipe had been cut, and he had several stab wounds on the left side of his chest. At first, police couldn’t find the knife that was used, but later, Chloe’s father found the bloody knife hidden in her closet and called the police back to the house.

Chloe’s lawyer, Todd Lancaster, said that Chloe had been abused by family members when she was younger, and that she had struggled for a long time with serious emotional and mental health problems. He said the terrible actions she took were because of all the trauma she had gone through. Her lawyer also said that Chloe had become pregnant after being abused by a 19-year-old when she was only 15 years old.

Chloe has already spent almost two years in jail while she waited for her case to be finished. That time she has already served will be counted as part of her full sentence. If Chloe serves the full 60 years, she could be around 76 years old when she is finally released from prison.