Nationwide — Chloe Coplen-Anderson, an 18-year-old from Sheridan County, Nebraska, has been sentenced to 35 to 60 years in jail after pleading no contest to second-degree homicide within the 2023 dying of her new child son. The case revealed troubling particulars of a hidden being pregnant, household abuse, and a violent crime.On April 24, Coplen-Anderson appeared in Sheridan County District Court docket, the place Decide Travis O’Gorman handed down the sentence. With over 500 days of time served credited, she may very well be launched in her early 50s, in response to Folks.
In accordance with courtroom paperwork, Coplen-Anderson gave start alone in her bed room on November 6, 2023. Shortly after, she fatally stabbed the toddler with a kitchen knife. At first, her father believed the newborn was stillborn. Nonetheless, her mom instructed police that her daughter had “damage him” and pointed to seen stab wounds.
Police later discovered the bloodied knife hidden in her closet.
Coplen-Anderson was initially charged with first-degree homicide, little one abuse leading to dying, and use of a lethal weapon. In August 2024, she agreed to a plea deal, pleading no contest to second-degree homicide. The opposite expenses have been dropped.
Her lawyer, Todd Lancaster, instructed the courtroom that Coplen-Anderson had been sexually abused and struggled with trauma-related psychological well being points, together with PTSD and main melancholy. He additionally revealed she was 15 when she turned pregnant and that the newborn’s father was 19—an age hole that classifies the connection as statutory sexual assault below Nebraska legislation.
Lancaster added that no adults stepped in to assist or intervene throughout her being pregnant.
In Nebraska, second-degree homicide carries a penalty starting from 20 years to life in jail.
