Trial begins for woman accused of killing pregnant friend to steal baby in the Bronx

MELROSE, Bronx (WABC) -- The trial for the woman charged with cutting out the unborn child of a friend of hers, and then claiming the baby belonged to her, began on Monday.

Lured with the promise of a baby gift, prosecutors says 22-year-old Angelikque Sutton dropped by the home of Ashleigh Wade to pick up a present for her unborn daughter on her way to the courthouse to get married in November 2015.

Instead, prosecutors say her throat was slashed so she couldn't scream for help, the major blood vessels in her neck were cut and as she bled out.

Angelikque Sutton

They say Wade used a paring knife to deliver baby Jenasis.

The grisly murder case was laid out Monday morning at the Bronx Criminal Courthouse.

Wade, who was a childhood acquaintance of Sutton, is accused of killing the eight-and-half-months expectant mother in order to kidnap her unborn child.

Prosecutors say Wade faked a pregnancy to her boyfriend, family and on social. She had diapers, she had baby clothes, she had baby shoes, but she didn't have a baby. For that she needed Sutton.

In the trial that is expected to last about a week and a half, prosecutors plan to show jurors bloody photos from inside Wade's apartment.

They call the stabbing calculated saying, "She took a great deal of care to avoid the abdomen. The defendant needed Ms. Sutton to die and she needed Jenasis to live."

In her defense, Wade's attorney argued "many of the facts are not in dispute. There could have been something that went horribly wrong in Ashleigh Wade's own mind."

Jenasis' father was in court Monday, as well as the Sutton family.

The victim's father was the first to take the stand, describing news reports that day.

"We were saying how terrible that was and that it was near our house. Not knowing that was our daughter," he said.