GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The Mesa County coroner’s office has ruled the death of a newborn following a two-vehicle crash that injured her mother a homicide.
Chief Deputy Coroner Rob Kurtzman says the baby that 26-year-old Shea Lehnen was carrying died of asphyxia, because the crash damaged Lehnen’s placenta and limited blood flow to the fetus.
Doctors at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction performed an emergency Caesarean section on Lehnen after she was involved in a head-on crash November 6th. Kurtzman says the girl died after doctors delivered her.
The Colorado State Patrol says 24-year-old Logan Lage was driving a Jeep Cherokee, leading a trooper on pursuit, when he crossed a double yellow line on Colorado Highway 65 to pass a semi and hit Lehnen’s Nissan.
Lage is being held on $500,000 bond.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
