A Massachusetts woman was convicted on Wednesday for killing her friend and stealing her fetus from her womb, ABC News reported.
Julie Corey, 39, was found guilty in Worcester Superior Court for the 2009 murder of 23-year-old Darlene Hayes. She is scheduled for sentencing on Tuesday.
Prosecutors argued that Corey attacked Haynes when she was eight months pregnant. They also said Corey was previously pregnant and suffered a miscarriage without telling anyone, trying to pass Haynes' baby off as her own.
"It's probably the most horrific case this office has ever seen in terms of facts," said District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. after the verdict was handed down. "This woman was killed for her baby."
Corey did not testify during the trial.
"I feel comfortable that justice was done for Darlene," Haynes' uncle, Karl Whitney, told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. He also said he feels sorry for Corey's family. "I just can't imagine going through something like that with one of my children."
Corey's attorney, Michael Wilcox, argued that police failed to follow up with other leads, including investigating Corey's ex-boyfriend, Alex Dion.
"We were aware of the evidence against her," Wilcox said, adding the facts in the case were difficult to discuss. "We worked very hard to present the jury with a different picture, but we weren't ultimately successful."
Though he didn't comment directly on Corey's emotional reaction to the verdict, he said he understands her grief.
"She faced the somber realization that she will spend the rest of her life in prison," he said.
On July 27, 2009, Haynes was found dead in a closet in her apartment. She had been beaten and strangled with her abdomen cut open and fetus missing.
Two days later, Corey, Dion, and the baby were found at a homeless shelter in New Hampshire. The girl, now four-years-old, lives with her biological father.
