Wisconsin woman sentenced to life in prison for murdering a pregnant woman and attempting to steal her fetus

According to trial testimony, Annette Morales-Rodriguez was distraught over her inability to give her boyfriend a son, had already pretended to have two miscarriages and was faking a third pregnancy when she devised a plan to abduct the woman, carve the child from her womb and pass it off as her own.

NYDailyNews.com

December 13, 2012

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman who confessed to police that she tried to steal a baby by killing a pregnant woman and cutting out the full-term fetus was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 34, was convicted in September of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of 23-year-old Maritza Ramirez-Cruz and her fetus. According to trial testimony, Morales-Rodriguez was distraught over her inability to give her boyfriend a son, had already pretended to have two miscarriages and was faking a third pregnancy when she devised a plan to abduct the woman, carve the child from her womb and pass it off as her own.

The convictions carried mandatory life sentences, so the only question for Judge David Borowski was whether Morales-Rodriguez would be allowed the possibility of parole. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

Morales-Rodriguez didn't testify during her trial, and her defense attorneys, who didn't deny that she attacked Ramirez-Cruz, didn't call any witnesses. Instead, they argued that the 2011 deaths of Ramirez-Cruz and her baby were reckless but not intentional because Morales-Rodriguez didn't mean for the victims to die.

They urged jurors to convict her of the lesser charge of first-degree reckless homicide, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. Instead, jurors convicted her on the original charges.

A key piece of evidence during the trial was a videotaped police interview in which Morales-Rodriguez described her attack on the young mother. She admitted luring Ramirez-Cruz to her home, bludgeoning and choking her into unconsciousness, and then using a small blade to carve out the fetus.

In the video she is seen sitting at a desk in a small interrogation room, sobbing, sniffling and occasionally covering her face with her hands. Her voice is generally unwavering, but she pauses frequently and sighs heavily.

Morales-Rodriguez described how she went to a Latino community center and found Ramirez-Cruz, a mother of three in her 40th week of pregnancy.

Morales-Rodriguez told police she offered the young woman a ride and then took her to Morales-Rodriguez's home, where Morales-Rodriguez bashed the pregnant woman in the head with a baseball bat and choked her until she passed out. She said she then put duct tape over the younger woman's mouth and nose and wrapped a plastic bag around her head. She then used a small blade to slice Ramirez-Cruz open from hip to hip and pulled out a stillborn boy.

In a 911 call played for jurors, Morales-Rodriguez frantically told a dispatcher that she had just given birth to a baby who wasn't breathing.

In the ensuing investigation and autopsy, a medical examiner found evidence that the baby wasn't the product of a natural birth. A subsequent examination verified Morales-Rodriguez hadn't given birth.

Police later found the victim's disemboweled body in Morales-Rodriguez's basement.

Morales-Rodriguez told investigators she was "sorry for the girl" and never meant for the baby to die.

Ramirez-Cruz's husband, Christian Mercado, had moved his family to Wisconsin from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, about two years ago. He testified that he kissed his wife goodbye on the morning she disappeared and told her he loved her.

He called her a few hours later because he was worried because about pain she'd been having. It was the last time they spoke.

Woman convicted of murdering expectant mother and attempting to steal her fetus

A jury of six men and six women deliberated for about an hour before convicting Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 34, of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the October 2011 deaths of the mother and fetus.

By The Associated Press/New York Daily News

September 20, 2012

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman was convicted Thursday of killing a pregnant woman and trying to steal her full-term fetus last year.

A jury of six men and six women deliberated for about an hour before convicting Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 34, of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the October 2011 deaths of the mother and fetus. She faces a mandatory life sentence when she is sentenced Dec. 14, although a judge could allow for the possibility of parole. Wisconsin doesn't have the death penalty.

Prosecutors said Morales-Rodriguez faked a pregnancy, panicked as her supposed due date approached and then lured 23-year-old Maritza Ramirez-Cruz to her house. There, she attacked her and used an X-Acto knife to cut the fetus out, according to the criminal complaint.

Ramirez-Cruz died of blood loss and asphyxiation, and her fetus, a boy, died as a result of her death, authorities say.

Morales-Rodriguez's defense attorneys didn't deny that she attacked Ramirez-Cruz. But they argued that the deaths of the mother and fetus weren't intentional because Morales-Rodriguez didn't intend for anyone to die.

Morales-Rodriguez did not testify during the trial, and her attorneys did not call any witnesses.

The strongest evidence against Morales-Rodriguez was a videotaped interview she gave to police in which she recounted the attack. She explained to investigators that she was desperate to give her boyfriend a son but that she couldn't "stay pregnant." She said she twice pretended to be pregnant, only to claim each time that she miscarried.

When she lied about a third pregnancy, she considered another scenario: killing a pregnant woman and stealing her baby. She described how she went to a Hispanic community center and found Ramirez-Cruz, a mother of three who was in her 40th week of pregnancy.

Morales-Rodriguez told police she bashed Ramirez-Cruz in the head with a baseball bat, then choked her until she passed out. She said she then put duct tape over the younger woman's eyes and nose and wrapped a plastic bag around her head. She then used a small blade to slice the victim open from hip to hip and pulled out a stillborn boy, Morales-Rodriguez said in the videotape.

She then called 911, telling a dispatcher she had just given birth to a baby who wasn't breathing.

In the ensuing investigation and autopsy, a medical examiner found evidence that the baby wasn't the product of a natural birth. A subsequent examination verified Morales-Rodriguez hadn't given birth.

Police later found Ramirez-Cruz's body in Moralez-Rodriguez's basement, according to the criminal complaint.

Annette Morales-Rodriguez Describes Murder And Fetus Abduction In Police Video

By Dinesh Ramde - Associated Press

September 19, 2012

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and trying to steal her fetus described the attack in a video prosecutors played for jurors Wednesday, telling investigators she repeatedly bashed the victim in the head with a baseball bat before choking her to death.

Prosecutors played about 38 minutes of a 90-minute police interview conducted with Annette Morales-Rodriguez last October. In the recording, she describes how she attacked 23-year-old Maritza Ramirez-Cruz and then performed a crude cesarean section with a small blade in the hopes she could pass the baby off as her own.

The 34-year-old has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of the mother and her full-term fetus. A conviction on either count carries a mandatory life sentence, although a judge could allow for the possibility of parole. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

Her public defender contends the homicides weren't intentional.

As the video played, Morales-Rodriguez sat silently in the courtroom, her head bowed as she stared at the table where she was sitting.

In the recording, she sits at a desk in a small interrogation room, sobbing and sniffling and occasionally covering her face with her hands. Her voice is generally unwavering, but she pauses frequently and sighs heavily. She speaks in Spanish, with police detective Rodolfo Gomez translating her words into English.

She tells Gomez her boyfriend desperately wanted a son, but she couldn't "stay pregnant."

"The doctor said the problem was me," she said in English during a second videotaped interview.

In the first video, she says she faked two previous pregnancies, each time claiming she miscarried. She says she eventually faked a third pregnancy. When Gomez asks how she planned to extricate herself from that lie, she tells him she figured she could claim another miscarriage but she also considered other options. Those included committing suicide, telling her boyfriend the truth and stealing a baby from a pregnant woman.

She describes how she met Ramirez-Cruz at a community center that provides social services for Hispanics. She says Ramirez-Cruz accepted her offer of a ride.

Morales-Rodriguez first took her to a drugstore for anti-nausea medication. Prosecutors played surveillance video showing the women shopping together. As the video played, the victim's husband, Christian Mercado, sat on the edge of his seat in the courtroom gallery, straining to see the images of his wife's last moments alive.

Morales-Rodriguez told investigators she began to panic after leaving the store, unsure whether she could go through with her planned assault. She says she stopped at home briefly, leaving the younger woman in the car. But then Ramirez-Cruz came inside to use the bathroom. Morales-Rodriguez decided to attack.

"The girl came out of the bathroom and she hit her with a bat. A wooden bat," Gomez says, translating Morales-Rodriguez's words in the video. "She hit her twice in the head."

With no urging, Morales-Rodriguez volunteers details of a fight in which she continued beating the victim until Ramirez-Cruz's eyeglasses broke. She describes choking Ramirez-Cruz until she passes out, putting duct tape over her eyes and nose, and wrapping a plastic bag around her head.

She says she cleaned up the blood and threw the victim's belongings in the trash. She then returned to the body to slice the victim open from one hip to the other with a small blade and pulled out the stillborn boy.

Also Wednesday, prosecutor Mark Williams showed jurors a number of graphic photos, including a picture of the victim's disemboweled abdomen. One juror put her hand over her mouth. Another rested his forehead on his palm and briefly looked away.

During cross-examination, Gomez confirmed to public defender Debra Patterson that Morales-Rodriguez said she was "sorry for the girl" and never meant for the baby to die.

Mercado, a Spanish-speaker, brought his family to Wisconsin from Arecibo, Puerto Rico about two years ago. He testified Wednesday about kissing his wife goodbye the morning she disappeared and telling her he loved her.

He called her about 9:20 a.m., saying he was worried because she had been having some pain. It was the last time they spoke.

When he called again about 11 a.m., she didn't answer.

"I got chest pains," he said through a translator. "I left work at noon to look for her."

The trial, which began Tuesday, could go to the jury as early as Thursday. The defense has declined to say whether Morales-Rodriguez will testify.

Annette Morales-Rodriguez Trial Begins: Woman Allegedly Killed Maritza Ramirez-Cruz To Steal Fetus

By Carrie Antlfinger - Huffingtonpost.com

September 16, 2012

MILWAUKEE -- It's been almost a year since Maritza Ramirez-Cruz bled to death when her full-term fetus was cut from her womb, and her three surviving children don't go a day without asking about her.

The children and their father, Christian Mercado, are getting psychiatric help to deal with the horrors, which will be rehashed at the trial that starts Monday of the woman charged in the killing.

Carlos Mercado, and his fiancee, Darla Gutierrez, moved into the apartment below his son's shortly after the October 2011 attack to help care for his son and the children – daughters ages 5 and 7 and a 3-year-old son – who still don't understand what happened.

"`Where's mom? When is she coming home?' They are too young to comprehend that," Gutierrez said.

Morales-Rodriguez, 34, is accused of faking a pregnancy, panicking as her supposed due date approached and then luring the 23-year-old Ramirez-Cruz to her house. There she attacked her with a baseball bat, choked her and then used an X-Acto knife to cut the fetus out, according to the criminal complaint.

According to court documents, Morales-Rodriguez had a couple of miscarriages and her boyfriend wanted a son. Prosecutors say she planned for two weeks to look for a pregnant woman and take her baby. She found Ramirez-Cruz, who was due any day, around a nonprofit organization that provides Hispanics with social services and offered her a ride.

Ramirez-Cruz died of blood loss and asphyxiation, and her fetus, a boy, died as a result of her death, authorities say.

Morales-Rodriguez is charged with two counts of intentional homicide, including homicide of an unborn child. A conviction on either count carries a mandatory life sentence, although a judge could allow for the possibility of parole. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

Her original lawyers had planned to use an insanity defense, but her new lawyers changed her plea Thursday to not guilty. A court-ordered doctor didn't find evidence to support the insanity plea.

A judge also ruled last week that an incriminating statement she made to a detective in an emergency room would be admissible at trial, even though the detective failed to explain her right to remain silent. He ruled it admissible under a public welfare or emergency rescue exception because police didn't know yet that Ramirez-Cruz was dead.

Gutierrez and Carlos Mercado said they hope the trial brings peace of mind to the family.

"They are just dragging it on and dragging it on and the family needs closure," Gutierrez said.

Mercado said he will be at his son's side during the trial.

"I have to go with him," he said, as he wiped away tears. "It's going to be hard for me and hard for him. I have to help him."

The trial is expected to last a week, with the state calling 25 to 30 witnesses. Prosecutor Mark Williams said he plans to play Morales-Rodriguez's videotaped confession to police. Morales-Rodriguez's lawyers have declined to discuss the case, and it wasn't known whether she plans to testify.

Mercado and Gutierrez said they don't think they could ever forgive her.

"They always teach you to forgive but something like this, no," Gutierrez said. "You see everything Maritza had in her in her daughters."

They hope she is convicted and gets life without parole.

"I want the judge to recognize what she did and give her what she deserves," Mercado said.

Similar cases of women taking an unborn child from a mother's womb were reported in Massachusetts and Oregon in 2009, in Pennsylvania in 2007, in Illinois in 2006 and Missouri in 2004.

Insanity plea possible in fetal-abduction case

By Dinesh Ramde - Wislawjournal.com

October 20, 2011

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and cutting out her full-term fetus in the hopes of raising the child as her own might plead insanity, one of her lawyers said.

Annette Morales-Rodriguez, who is charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, sat stoically in a wheelchair during a pretrial hearing on Wednesday while an interpreter relayed in Spanish what was happening. A court commissioner bound her over for trial and maintained her $1 million bail. She’s scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 2.

After the hearing, one of her three lawyers, Robert D’Arruda, said the defense would be scrutinizing the investigation into the Oct. 6 slaying of 23-year-old Maritza Ramirez-Cruz and her fetus, and that they would consider using an insanity defense.

“I’m not saying we are going to do it, but that’s something we’re going to discuss and may do at the next court date,” he said.

Morales-Rodriguez, 33, would receive mandatory life sentences if convicted of the homicide charges, although a judge could grant her the possibility of parole. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

D’Arruda said his client has been “very depressed” and has been eating poorly in jail.

Investigators contend that Morales-Rodriguez was desperate to give her boyfriend a son but was unable to conceive. She’s accused of luring Ramirez-Cruz into her car, taking her home, beating her with a baseball bat and cutting her full-term fetus, a boy, from her womb. Both mother and fetus died.

Forensic pathologist Wieslawa Tlomak testified Wednesday that neither autopsy has been completed, but that preliminary indications suggest that Ramirez-Cruz died of a combination of blood loss and strangulation, and “it appears the child died because the mother died.”

Morales-Rodriguez’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Jose R. Chaidez-Montenegro, told the medical examiner that she told him about six months ago that she was pregnant but that she was evasive about the gender and approximate due date.

According to investigators, Morales-Rodriguez grew increasingly desperate as the supposed due date approached, and she began plotting to “find a pregnant woman and take the baby and make it hers.”

She chose Ramirez-Cruz after spotting her outside a nonprofit organization that provides Hispanics with health care. She picked the younger woman up on Oct. 6 and took her home, where she bludgeoned her, choked her until she passed out and cut the baby from her womb with a small blade.

Police say she told them the baby wasn’t breathing so she called 911 and reported that she’d given birth to a stillborn child. She was taken to a hospital, where she refused treatment and left.

An autopsy revealed that the baby wasn’t born naturally. The mother’s uterus was attached to the baby and had been cut out by force, the complaint said, and both ovaries and Fallopian tubes were still attached to the uterus and placenta.

Officers returned to Morales-Rodriguez’s house that day and took her back to the hospital. An examination verified she hadn’t given birth and police then questioned her.

Milwaukee police Det. Rodolfo Gomez testified that when he visited her in the hospital, her first words to him were that “she was sorry for the girl” and she wanted to know how much time she’d be getting. She later told him a girl was dead in her basement and that the baby wasn’t hers, he said.

After that she was taken into custody, read her rights and interrogated further.

D’Arruda, her defense attorney, said he plans to question why police conducted the hospital interrogation without having read his client her rights.

“We’re going to file a motion challenging her statement, saying police basically jumped the gun,” he said. “They should have read her her rights before they talked to her in the hospital.”

Ramirez-Cruz And Son Taken To Philadelphia After Weekend Funeral Services In Milwaukee

By H. Nelson Goodson - Hngwiusa.wordpress.com

October 17, 2011

Milwaukee – On Monday, the bodies of the late Maritza Ramirez-Cruz, 23, and her son, Omar were transported to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for extended funeral services. Both Ramirez-Cruz and her son were remembered Friday in Milwaukee at the Witkowiak Funeral Home during funeral services held by family members in Wisconsin. The service was opened to the public.

Their bodies arrived in Pennsylvania for other family members to mourn their loss. She has a large family in the state. Ramirez-Cruz and her son will then be taken to Puerto Rico where they will remain interment.

The homicides of Ramirez-Cruz and her son were discovered by police on October 6, when they were called to a home at the 1600 block of S. 7th St. to investigate a reported death of a new born. Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 33, reported the death after admitting she had given birth. Morales-Rodriguez told police the baby had died during birth and that she didn’t know that she was pregnant.

She was taken to the hospital, but refused medical attention. She was later released and returned to her home in the South side.

The Milwaukee County Medical Deputy Examiner, Dr. Wieslawa Tomak in an autopsy discovered the baby still had parts of the ovaries attached to the uterus and placenta. Dr. Tomak determined the birth was not natural, but a forced birth.

Police returned to Morales-Rodriguez residence. She was taken back to St. Francis Hospital for medical evaluation. A doctor determined that Morales-Rodriguez hadn’t given birth and police arrested her after making herself bleed to fool the doctors that she was bleeding from the birth. Doctor Rachel English at St. Francis Hospital reported, that Morales-Rodriguez had superficial scratching on her vaginal walls, which caused bleeding.

On October 7, police detectives confirmed that Morales-Rodriguez wasn’t the mother of a baby boy. Police returned to the home where they found the body of Ramirez-Cruz behind a heater in the basement which showed signs that her baby was savagely cut out in what police say is a rare case of child abduction. Ramirez-Cruz was expected to give birth on October 16, according to family members.

Last week, Morales-Rodriguez was charged with two counts of 1st-degree homicide, including intentional homicide of a child while armed. Bail was set at $1 million and if convicted, she is facing two life terms in prison.

The criminal complaint stated, Morales-Rodriguez went out and drove around looking for a woman that was pregnant and saw Ramirez-Cruz on S. Chase Ave. and offered her a ride. She lured Ramirez-Cruz to her South side apartment and then beat Ramirez-Cruz with a baseball bat after she came out of the bathroom. Ramirez-Cruz tried to fight back, but Morales-Rodriguez dragged her out of the bathroom.

Ramirez-Cruz was able to run to the living room and Morales-Rodriguez once again struck her in the head with the baseball bat, knocking her to the floor. Morales-Rodriguez then strangled her with both hands until Ramirez-Cruz became unconsicous. She tied Ramirez-Cruz with duct tape and place a plastic bag over her head until she was dead.

Then Morales-Rodriguez removed the unborn child from Ramirez-Cruz uterus with an Exacto knife, according to the criminal complaint.

Morales-Rodriguez wanted a boy to make her boyfriend happy. She couldn’t get pregnant, so she pretended to be having a child. She became worried after the fake pregnacy was nearing the delivery date.

Her live-in boyfriend told police that he thought Morales-Rodriguez had been pregnant. Neighbors also thought she was pregnant because Morales-Rodriguez would tell them that she was about to give birth. She has three children.

Ramirez-Cruz was last seen on October 6, when she left her home. She was later reported missing by her husband Christian Mercado, according to Milwaukee police. Ramirez-Cruz also had three children.

US woman Annette Morales-Rodriguez kills mum-to-be for baby in her womb

By Thomas Durante - DailyMail.co.uk

October 11, 2011

A Wisconsin woman who already had three children and was desperate to have one with her new boyfriend was today charged with killing a pregnant mother, cutting out her baby and passing off the child as her own.

The criminal complaint filed today details the horrific story behind the murder of Maritza Ramirez-Cruz, 23, who was expecting her fourth child that she had planned to name Omar.

Her alleged killer, Annette Morales-Rodriguez, admitted she had scoured the suburban Milwaukee neighbourhood for two weeks looking for a pregnant woman whose child she could steal and call her own.

On 6th October, she saw Maritza Ramirez-Cruz - a total stranger - and offered her a ride.

When she got in the car, however, Morales-Rodriguez said she needed to go back to her home to change her shoes, and Ramirez-Cruz followed her in to use the bathroom.

It was when she came out of the toilet that Morales-Rodriguez allegedly attacked her with a baseball bat, striking her in the head several times.

With Ramirez-Cruz on the ground, her attacker choked her until she passed out, and cut her open, attempting a Cesaerean section that she had seen done on the Discovery Channel, according to the complaint.

Morales-Rodriguez then hid the body in her basement.

Later that evening, emergency services responded to a call from Morales-Rodriguez, who said that she had just given birth to a child who was not breathing, according to the criminal complaint.

Paramedics were unable to revive the boy and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Morales-Rodriguez was taken to the hospital but, after an autopsy of the full-term baby - and medical examinations of the woman herself, it was determined that she was not pregnant and had not recently given birth.

Police Chief Edward Flynn said: 'During the ensuing investigations, detectives determined that the 33-year-old woman was not, in fact, the birth mother of the baby.'

The next day, police returned to Morales-Rodriguez's home and found Ramirez-Cruz's mutilated body.

The medical examiner determined that Ramirez-Cruz likely died from excessive loss of blood.

Local residents and neighbours have been shocked by the brutal killing, and many cannot believe police have the right person in custody.

On Sunday night, the victim's husband, Christian Mercado, told WTMJ that his wife was a 'good person.'

Because he doesn't speak English, Mr Mercado's stepmother Darla Guiterrez translated for him.

She said: 'We still can't believe it. We know it's true but we can't believe it and the whole family is taking it real hard.'

Jacqueline Bonilla, whose daughter lives next-door to Morales-Rodriguez, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'She was acting like she was pregnant.

'She'd push her belly out and I'd say, "Oh, she's pregnant."'

Another neighbour, Keila Perez, claimed the Morales-Rodriguez is the godmother to her daughter.

'From what I know she had a baby, she had baby stuff in there, she has a car seat and everything in there. I don't know what the hell is going on.'

Morales-Rodriguez lived in the property with a man and her three children, but police said no-one else is being considered as an accomplice.

Neighbours said Morales-Rodriguez claimed to have been pregnant for months.

Ms Perez said Morales-Rodriguez had been talking about pregnancy, and had even shown her a sonogram of the baby.

She claimed she was expecting to deliver the baby by Caesarean section in the coming weeks but had called Ms Perez around noon on Thursday to say she was having contractions.

She said the woman's three other children ranged in age from five to 14, and her current boyfriend was not their father.

She added that Morales-Rodriguez had lived in the neighbourhood for seven years, after moving from Puerto Rico.

Similar cases of women taking an unborn child from a mother's womb were reported in Massachusetts and Oregon in 2009, in Pennsylvania in 2007, in Illinois in 2006 and Missouri in 2004.

In the Oregon case, a woman obsessed with having a baby pleaded guilty last year to the murder of a pregnant woman whose unborn child was cut from her abdomen after she was bludgeoned to death.

Korena Roberts, 29, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In Massachusetts, a Worcester woman, Julie Corey, pleaded not guilty to killing her pregnant friend, Darlene Hayes, and cutting the baby from Hayes' womb.

Corey and the baby were found in a homeless shelter in Plymouth, N.H., in July 2009, just days after Hayes was found dead with a fractured skull.

Details emerge in 'fetal abduction': Beat, choked victim then cut out fetus, court documents claim

NYDailyNews.com

October 10, 2011

MILWAUKEE - A woman who faked a pregnancy and panicked as her supposed due date grew near attacked a pregnant mother with a baseball bat and cut her full-term fetus from her womb with an Exacto knife, killing the mother and baby, according to court documents filed Monday.

Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 33, faces one count each of first-degree intentional homicide while armed and first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child while armed in the death of Maritza Ramirez-Cruz and the boy she was set to deliver next week. Morales-Rodriguez faces mandatory life in prison if convicted.

Morales-Rodriguez made a brief court appearance Monday, standing silent as her bail was set at $1 million. Online court records didn't list an attorney for her, and the Milwaukee public defender's office voicemail wouldn't accept messages Monday afternoon.

"I don't know what she had in her mind," said Maria Garcia, 44, who lives next to Morales-Rodriguez and described her as her best friend.

According to the criminal complaint, Morales-Rodriguez told detectives that her boyfriend wanted a son but she couldn't get pregnant. She told him she was pregnant anyway, but started to grow desperate as what would be her due date approached.

She told investigators she planned for two weeks to find a pregnant woman, take the baby and make it hers, the complaint said.

Morales-Rodriguez drove around on Wednesday searching for a pregnant woman, but found none, authorities said. On Thursday she drove around a nonprofit organization that provides Hispanics with health care and found Ramirez-Cruz.

The 23-year-old had moved from Puerto Rico to join her childhood sweetheart, Christian Mercado, said Mercado's father, Carlos Mercado. They already had three children together and Ramirez-Cruz was carrying their fourth.

Morales-Rodriguez told detectives she thought about telling her boyfriend the truth, but decided against it and offered Ramirez-Cruz a ride.

Telling Ramirez-Cruz she needed to change her shoes, she drove them to her weathered two-story house on Milwaukee's south side. Ramirez-Cruz went inside to use the bathroom. When she emerged, Morales-Rodriguez was waiting for her with a baseball bat.

The complaint said Morales-Rodriguez began to bludgeon her. Ramirez-Cruz fell to the ground. Morales-Rodriguez straddled the younger woman and choked her until she passed out, the complaint said.

Morales-Rodriguez then duct-taped Ramirez-Cruz's feet and hands and taped over her mouth and nose. She cut her open with the knife, the complaint said, telling detectives she was trying to imitate a procedure she had seen on the Discovery Channel.

When she pulled the fetus out, the baby wasn't breathing, Morales-Rodriguez said. She smeared some of Ramirez-Cruz's blood around her thighs to make people think she herself was bleeding from giving birth. Then she called 911 and said she'd given birth to a stillborn. She was taken to a hospital, but left before she was fully examined, the complaint said.

An autopsy the next day revealed that the baby wasn't the product of a natural birth. Police returned to Morales-Rodriguez's house that day and took her back to the hospital. An examination verified she hadn't given birth and officers arrested her.

Morales-Rodriguez is due back in court Oct. 19 for a preliminary hearing.

Similar cases of women taking an unborn child from a mother's womb were reported in Massachusetts and Oregon in 2009, in Pennsylvania in 2007, in Illinois in 2006 and Missouri in 2004.

Garcia said she was convinced Morales-Ramirez was pregnant, saying she even rubbed her belly. The last time Garcia saw her, on Oct. 3, Morales-Ramirez told her she was going to have a Cesarean section in two weeks. But she also seemed depressed, refusing to come out of her house to even join Garcia for a walk.

"She just wanted to be in the house," Garcia said, tears filling her eyes. "I'm so confused I don't know what to do."

Carlos Mercado, 59, said he couldn't stand up when he heard Ramirez-Cruz was dead.

"My heart, oh my God, it's hurting me. I can't sleep," he said.

His son, who declined to speak with reporters at his home Monday, must now raise the couple's three children alone without much money, Carlos Mercado said. The oldest child is only six.

"He'll have to be the mother and father. I don't know how he's going to make it. He's got to grow them up, take them to school, get them in the shower," Mercado said. "He's real sad. He's real hurt."