Days after she was attacked in the basement of a Longmont home, Michelle Wilkins sat in a hospital bed holding the lifeless body of the daughter she planned to name Aurora.
Wilkins clothed her, read to her and held her tight.
But despite the comfort of her daughter's spirit, the reality of Aurora's cold skin began to settle in. Wilkins suddenly felt the anguish of a mother unable to see her daughter's eyes, her smile or even her first breath.
"I did all the things that a mom would want to do," Wilkins said in an interview Tuesday. "But knowing that she was only present in spirit and not physically was a really painful thing to grasp."
Wilkins, 27, says she still feels Aurora's love and strength every day, including on Tuesday when her attacker, Dynel Lane, was convicted by a Boulder County juryof attempted first-degree murder and other charges.
Read more and see Wilkins interview with our partners at The Denver Post.
