( CNN ) Dynel Lane , a former nurse 's aide accused of stabbing a pregnant Colorado woman , was charged Friday with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder , unlawful termination of pregnancy , and other crimes for allegedly cutting a fetus from the womb . Boulder County District Attorney Stanley L. Garnett was unable to file a murder charge under state law , and he highlighted how the coroner found that the fetus did n't show any signs of life outside the womb , Garnett said . The victim , Michelle Wilkins , 26 , who was seven months ' pregnant , survived this month 's attack , which occurred when she went to a Longmont home to buy baby clothes advertised for sale on Craigslist . `` Now , I understand that many in the community -- and heaven knows I 've heard from a lot of them -- would like me to file homicide charges , '' Garnett told reporters . `` However , that is not possible under Colorado law without proof of live birth . A prosecutor can not file murder charges when a baby who is killed has not lived outside the body of the mother . For similar reasons , I can not bring charges of child abuse resulting in death , '' the district attorney said . The fetus ' lungs never inflated , Garnett said . The fetus ' exact cause of death , however , is n't immediately known and is expected to be revealed when the final autopsy report is released in six to eight weeks , he said . Wilkins and her partner , identified only as Dan , named the female fetus Aurora , the prosecutor said . Lane , 34 , appeared briefly in a holding room during an initial court appearance Friday , but she did n't enter the courtroom . Her attorneys waived a formal reading of charges at the hearing , which occurred before the prosecutor 's press conference . `` She could get a long sentence and very well could die in prison , '' the district attorney said about Lane , adding he could n't immediately calculate the maximum number of years she faces if convicted of all counts . Lane was also charged with two counts of crime of violence , two counts of first-degree assault , and two counts of second-degree assault , Garnett said . Lane 's next court date , a preliminary hearing , is May 5 . She is being held on a $ 2 million bond . Earlier Friday , the Boulder County Coroner 's Office said the fetus was n't alive on its own after it was cut from Wilkins ' womb . The female fetus did n't exhibit `` any signs of life outside of the womb , therefore the circumstance is not being considered a live birth , '' Coroner Emma R. Hall said in a statement . Friday 's finding came a day after prosecutors indicated that Lane would n't face a murder charge in the March 18 assault . Wilkins was released from the hospital on Thursday , relatives said . The coroner 's office performed an autopsy on the fetus and said Wilkins was 34 weeks pregnant . `` An autopsy has been completed , '' Hall said . `` At this time neither the autopsy or the investigation have provided any evidence that the baby exhibited any signs of life outside of the womb , therefore the circumstance is not being considered a live birth . No evidence of trauma or injuries were found on the body . `` Final autopsy results will be released once all testing and further studies are complete , '' Hall said . The coroner 's finding apparently contradicts earlier claims made in police reports that the fetus `` gasped '' and that emergency room personnel described the fetus as viable . David Ridley , the 35-year-old husband of Dynel Lane , told police he found his wife `` covered in blood '' in the family home and later found `` a small baby lying in the bathtub , '' a Longmont police report said . `` He rubbed the baby slightly then rolled it over to ... see it take a gasping breath , '' the report said . Ridley took the baby and his wife to the emergency room of Longmont United Hospital , and the hospital told police the baby `` would have been viable , '' the police report said . But on Friday , District Attorney Garnett said that Ridley altered his earlier statement to police . Without referring to Ridley by name , Garnett cited how media accounts took note of the police report and how a `` witness observed Aurora taking a gasping breath . '' `` However , upon a more thorough examination of this witness by the Longmont Police Department , the witness clarified that Aurora was still and her mouth was open , but she was not breathing , which is consistent with medical evidence from the autopsy , '' Garnett told reporters . CNN 's Amanda Watts contributed to this report .
D.A . acknowledges that some people demand a homicide charge . `` That is not possible under Colorado law without proof of live birth , '' he says . Dynel Lane is held on $ 2 million bond in an attack on a Friday pregnant woman .