Sutton and Wade were friends in elementary school, and became reacquainted via social media after Sutton became pregnant.   Wade also reported that she was pregnant and registered online for several sites for expectant mothers. 

On the day of her wedding, Sutton stopped in to visit her old friend Wade, as Wade had invited her to come receive a present.  Wade cut Sutton’s throat, stabbed her more than 50 times, and then removed Sutton’s uterus in order to extract Sutton’s fetus.  She then reportedly prepared a bottle of formula and swaddled the baby.  

Wade called her boyfriend and stated that she had given birth and he arrived at the crime scene to find Wade, the infant, and Sutton’s corpse. 

Wade was sent for a psychiatric evaluation immediately after the arrest. 

Wade’s boyfriend later testified that Wade told him over the telephone “I think I killed somebody” and that she had a history of lying about being pregnant and giving birth. He indicated that, 2 years before the crime, Wade claimed to have given birth to an infant who died but he never saw the infant. During the trial, it was revealed that there was no birth certificate for this supposed birth.

During the trial, Wade repeatedly referred to the infant as ‘it’ rather than ‘she’. 

Wade’s defense attempted to claim that she had ‘pseudocyesis’. and did not know that she wasn’t pregnant.  However, the testifying psychiatrist indicated that Wade was not psychotic when she committed the crime. 

The defense attorney appeared to blame the murder victim, claiming that Sutton had arrogantly showed off her pregnancy and supportive family, which caused Wade to ‘snap’ and stab the victim.