Woman who 'cut out baby from kidnapped mother's womb' feared her husband would leave after she lied about being pregnant

Investigators discovered Sisouvanh Synhavong, 23, had claimed she was expecting her first child.

They believe she feared her husband would leave her once he discovered she had  lied about her pregnancy.

Facing the death penalty: Sisouvanh Synhavong is accused of cutting a baby from a mother's womb because she feared her husband would leave her after she lied about being pregnant

Synhavong befriended her victim, 27-year-old Araceli Gomez, by offering to supply her with baby clothes after striking up a conversation with her on a  bus.

She later kidnapped the mum of two and drove her to a secluded park where she  stabbed her multiple times in the chest.

Laos-born Synhavong used a craft knife to cut the baby from her womb. Doctors say he is in a critical condition but is expected to survive.

Synvahong was still clutching the baby's umbilical cord when she was taken to  hospital claiming the baby was hers. She had called emergency services pretending she had given birth on the back seat of her car.

Medical tests showed she had not had a baby and police found the mutilated  body of her victim.

Synvahong told friends in the town of Kennewick, Washington state, that she was pregnant.

She married 35-year-old fisherman Keun Synvahong a month ago. He was due to   return to Alaska where he spends up to eight months of the year.

One friend said: "Sisouvanh was worried that her husband would leave her once he found out she wasn't pregnant.   

"One of the reason they got married was because she told him she was expecting."

The victim's fiancee, Juan Felipe, spent several hours by his newborn son's bedside.

He also visited his fiancée at the mortuary as friends say he is trying to make sense of the killing.

His fiancée's two other children, aged ten and two, are being cared for by friends.

Synhavong has been charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted.