Neighbor Rips Baby from Mother's Womb. Now Father Left to Raise Baby Alone
In the summer of 2017 a horrific crime was committed against soon-to-be mother Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind. On the pretense of a seemingly innocent invitation to her neighbor’s apartment, she was betrayed by the woman who lived just two floors above her.
While inside the apartment of Brooke Crews, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was brutally attacked. Crews mutilated her body with a knife, slowly killing her. Crews has since been convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole.
However, as Savanna’s life ended, her daughter’s life began in the most unfortunate of circumstances. Before the young mother died, her daughter was cut out of her womb through an obscene, unpracticed C-section.
Three days after Savannah had gone missing, police found her baby alive in Crews’ apartment. A week later, kayakers discovered the mother’s body in the Red River, after her corpse had become stuck in an overhanging tree.
On the night of the murder, Crews’ boyfriend, William Hoehn, came back to the house to find her cleaning up the crime scene.
In a haunting statement, Crews was reported to have said, “This is our baby, this is our family.” The two had plans to leave town before the baby was discovered.
The couple have given different testimonies on this part of the crime, and the truth may not be revealed until Hoehn goes to court in May. He has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, and likely had some part in disposing of the body.
“I did cut her and then I took her baby out of her,” Brooke Lynn Crews said, adding that Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was not dead when Crews did the C-section. https://t.co/jRLTAO5VSh pic.twitter.com/csIRElz7hr
— inforum (@inforum) February 2, 2018
The baby, named Haisley Jo, has been entrusted to the infant’s father, Ashton Matheny, a construction worker now living in Fargo, North Dakota. Matheny was a longtime boyfriend of the victim, and the two had plans for a future together.
During the time of the murder, Matheny was working construction for his father near Devils Lake, North Dakota.
He hoped that this job would financially prepare the couple for the new baby, which was expected that coming September.
Since this opportunity has been ripped away from him, he has been left to raise the child on his own.
In a statement given before his girlfriend’s body was found, he said, “All I wanted was a life with Savanna and my baby, but they took it from me. My world’s gone.”
The Fargo community has since rallied behind the family, hoping to come to terms with this horrific crime. A video below from CBS news describes a recent event, the “We are Savannah” rally, which hoped to heal the community.
As the community and Savannah’s family heal, Haisley Jo is approaching her 6-month birthday. In celebration, Matheny hopes to “make her first words ‘mama’.”
Although it may be difficult to relive the atrocity that has brought Haisley Jo into his life, Matheny is doing his best to make sure Savannah will not be forgotten.
We are glad to see how the family has been able to overcome. We also hope that justice continues to fall on the side of the righteous, so that these crimes do not go unpunished.
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