An 18-year-old Nebraska woman was sentenced to 35 to 60 years in prison on Thursday, April 24, after pleading no contest to second-degree murder in the death of her newborn son.
Chloe Coplen-Anderson appeared before Judge Travis O’Gorman in Sheridan County District Court, where she received her sentence nearly a year after the shocking crime that stunned the community.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Coplen-Anderson had concealed her pregnancy from family and friends. After giving birth to a baby boy in her bedroom on November 6, 2023, she allegedly slit the newborn’s throat with a kitchen knife.
When police officers arrived at the home in Gordon, Nebraska, they were initially told by Coplen-Anderson’s father that the baby had been stillborn. However, her mother, visibly distraught and weeping, immediately told authorities that her daughter had “hurt him” and pointed out stab wounds on the baby’s body.
Both parents informed officers that they had seen Chloe take a knife from the kitchen earlier that day. When authorities searched the home, they later discovered the bloody knife hidden in Coplen-Anderson’s bedroom closet.
During the trial, Coplen-Anderson’s attorney, Todd Lancaster, revealed that his client had been the victim of abuse at the hands of family members and was battling serious mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder.
Lancaster also noted that Coplen-Anderson became pregnant at just 15 years old by a 19-year-old — a situation that qualifies as statutory sexual assault under Nebraska law. He argued that no adults intervened to help her throughout her pregnancy or the traumatic circumstances that followed.
Initially charged with first-degree murder, Coplen-Anderson agreed to plead no contest to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in August 2024. In exchange, prosecutors dropped additional charges, including child abuse resulting in death and use of a deadly weapon.
In Nebraska, second-degree murder carries a penalty of 20 years to life in prison. With the credit for time already served — more than 500 days behind bars — Coplen-Anderson will be eligible for release when she is about 51 years old.