Bronx woman pleads not guilty after officials say she fatally stabbed pregnant friend, cut baby from womb
By Ben Kochman and Leonard Greene
Ashleigh Wade pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping charges at her arraignment Tuesday. (Facebook)
A stabbing victim's forgiving father looked on Tuesday as a Bronx woman accused of killing her childhood friend and carving her baby out of her womb was arraigned on murder and kidnapping charges.
The baby miraculously survived.
Ashleigh Wade, 22, pleaded not guilty, weeks after authorities said she performed a crude caesarean section on Angelikque Sutton after plunging a knife into her pregnant friend.
Cops said Wade tried to convince them that she gave birth to the child herself Nov. 20, saying, "It's my baby," as Sutton lay dying in a pool of blood.
Later, in a statement to cops, Wade -- who said she had lost a baby of her own -- claimed she "rescued the baby" after killing Sutton in self-defense.
"I sat there thinking about my child that died and thought that I couldn't have any more children die so I rescued the baby," Wade wrote in her statement.
"Once she was out I fed her and wrapped her in some blankets to keep her warm. Holding her felt right and I believed that that little girl was mine."
Prosecutors said Wade and Sutton, 22, had recently reconnected through Facebook, but when Sutton went to visit Wade at her Monticello Avenue apartment, she was greeted with a knife.
Angelikque Sutton, an expectant mom of eight and a half months, was fatally stabbed, slashed across the neck and had her baby taken out of her womb, allegedly by her childhood friend. (Facebook)
Months earlier, Wade had been pregnant with a child of her own, but lost the baby after 4 ½ months, officials said.
Sutton's family, including her father, a minister, was in court for Wade's arraignment.
Bishop William Sutton said he forgave his daughter's accused killer.
"We'll pray for her too," Sutton, the pastor of Zion Hill Pentecostal Church, said.
"We're all about forgiveness. We're Christians. She has a soul, just like everybody else."
Relatives said the baby, Jenasis, is doing well.
"She's beautiful, just like my baby. One Angel to another," said the slain woman's mother, Deborah Sutton. "She named her before she passed."
Deborah Sutton, seen after her daughter Angelikque Sutton's funeral in November, says the baby, Jenasis, is doing well. (James Keivom/New York Daily News)
Wade, who wore a tan jumpsuit and glasses to court, was found mentally fit to stand trial. She faces up to 50 years to life in prison.
She confessed to the brutal killing soon after her arrest, police said.
"How long until I go to jail? I did it. I killed her. I just want to go," Wade told cops, according to court papers. "I just killed someone. I stabbed her as many times as I could."
The court papers included a Wade's written statement detailing the attack.
"I let her in and right after coming up stairs she starts bringing up elementary school saying that I treated her badly and that she will never forget," the statement said. "I was confused and questioned her and she began cornering me in my kitchen."
She said they soon began fighting over a knife.
"I tried to kick her and she stabbed me twice in my leg," Wade wrote. "I kicked the knife out her hand and grabbed it and started stabbing her. She fell and was still grabbing after me so I continued stabbing her until she stopped moving."