Mum who suffocated four-month-old girl caught killing second baby years later

Stephany Elizabeth Bilecki, 30, was sentenced to 130 years in prison on Monday after admitting to killing her four-month-old and 13-month-old daughters two years apart

By: irishmirror.ie

Dec 11 2024
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Mum who suffocated four-month-

A mum could spend the rest of her life in prison after she killed her four-month-old baby years after she also suffocated her four-month-old girl to death.

Stephany Elizabeth Bilecki, 30, previously known as Stephany LaFountain, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder over the deaths of her two children. She was handed a 130-year sentence on Monday with 45 years suspended, leading to an actual incarceration period of 45 years. Her plea resulted in the abandonment of additional charges against her, which included two counts of first-degree murder.

In September 2015, Bilecki told her boyfriend and mother that her daughter Chyanne, only four months old at the time, had passed away. She called emergency services just before her mother arrived. The girl's death was initially deemed sudden infant death syndrome, before further investigation revealed that Chyanne had succumbed due to injuries related to strangulation, reports the Mirror US.

Then, in November 2017, while her husband was away on deployment, she tried to call him to tell him that their 13-month-old granddaughter, Jasmine, wasn't breathing, but couldn't get through. Instead, she phoned her in-laws, and dialled the emergency services just before the grandparents arrived.

Prosecutors revealed that in the days and hours leading up to these calls, Bilecki had made some disturbing searches on her mobile phone, including "ways to suffocate," "ways to kill a human with no proof," "drugs that can kill ppl with no trace," "can drowning show in an autopsy report," and "16 steps to kill someone and not get caught," An autopsy later revealed that Jasmine had died from a lack of oxygen, and investigators began to suspect that Bilecki may also have been responsible for the death of Chyanne.

The original investigation was reopened, and in August 2018, Bilecki was indicted by a grand jury in Fairbanks, Alaska. Reflecting on the horrific case, Chief Eric Jewkes, the former Chief of Fairbanks Police Department, said: "Just think about a mother killing both her children over two years, completely isolated events, and what that means, and what happens sometimes in our community, and sometimes just the evil that exists, that's out there,".

After years of legal battles, Superior Court Judge Patricia Haines accepted the guilty plea over the summer, as reported by KTVF. The defendant was described as "barely audible" when she accepted legal responsibility.

The state proposed that each of Bilecki's murders should be punished with 65 years, with one count suspended for 40 years and the second count suspended for 45 years, a sentence handed down by the judge. If and when Bilecki is released, she will face up to 10 years of probation and will not be permitted unsupervised contact with minors under 16 in non-public places.

Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire said in a statement: "The conduct forming the basis of defendant Bilecki's convictions shocks the conscience," He concluded: "Although we cannot pretend that anything will ever makeup for the losses suffered by the fathers of these babies or their other family members, I do hope the convictions and the sentences imposed affords some measure of justice to the families of Jasmine and Chyanne and to the Fairbanks community at large."

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