This is the epitome of evil. A New Hampshire woman is finally going to trial four years after reportedly brutally killing her so-called friend by bashing her skull with a brick, then ripping the unborn baby out of her womb while the mother was still alive.
The body of Darlene Haynes, 23, was found in her apartment in Worcester, Mass., on July 27, 2009. Haynes, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was discovered in a closet at her residence, with her child removed from her stomach.
Investigators at the scene found a blood-soaked mattress flipped upside down and an autopsy revealed the young woman died from blunt force trauma, strangulation and a large knife incision to her abdomen.
Julie Corey was identified as the last person to see Haynes alive, some four days previous to the grim discovery at her apartment. Two days after Haynes’ body was found, investigators located Corey and her boyfriend at a homeless shelter. They had a newborn baby girl with them.
Following a DNA test the child was found to belong to Haynes and her boyfriend, Roberto Rodriguez. The 4-year-old child now lives with Mr. Rodriguez.
Two years ago lawyers for Corey filed a motion stating that no evidence linked their client with the murder of Haynes.
Judge Janet Kenton-Walker, who is presiding over the trial, denied the motion and said: “Haynes was eight months pregnant with a baby girl when she was last seen alive with Corey.
“Fingerprint evidence suggests that, at some point after Corey and Haynes stopped at the package store, Corey had been in the bedroom where Haynes was found dead with her baby cut from her body.”
Fingerprint evidence presented showed Corey had visited a shop with Haynes on the night she died.
It was noted by the judge that Corey, since February of 2009, had told her boyfriend and family that she was pregnant, but refused to let her boyfriend, Alex Dion, accompany her on her hospital visits.
Corey told police she was afraid Dion would steal the baby from her once it was born. It was noted that Corey called her boyfriend on the night of July 23 to tell him her water had broken and she was going to a hospital in nearby Framingham.
The Metro West Hospital in Framingham, along with several other hospitals, have no record of the birth, the judge said.
“A couple of hours after Corey was last seen with Haynes, Corey told others that she had just given birth to a baby girl. Her stories were riddled with contradictions that cast significant doubt not only on the circumstances of her supposed delivery, but also on whether she had been pregnant at all.
“DNA evidence established that Haynes was the mother of the baby girl that Corey claimed was her own,” the judge said.
Corey, who has been remanded in custody, has pleaded not guilty. The trial will being next week after a 16-person jury is selected this week.
