An Alaskan woman, Stephany Elizabeth Bilecki, 30, has been sentenced to 130 years in prison, with 85 years suspended, for the suffocation deaths of her two infant daughters. The murders occurred two years apart, with the victims being her 4-month-old and 13-month-old daughters. Bilecki, previously known as Stephany LaFountain, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in July.
The sentencing took place in a Fairbanks courtroom on Monday afternoon. As a result of her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two additional charges of second-degree murder and two charges of first-degree murder. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Crail stated during the sentencing hearing that the mandatory minimum for both of these charges is 20 years, given that the victims were Bilecki’s children.
In September 2015, Bilecki informed her boyfriend and mother that her 4-month-old daughter, Chyanne, had died. She called 911 shortly before her mother arrived. Initially, the cause of death was presumed to be sudden infant death syndrome. However, a subsequent investigation revealed that the child had died from injuries consistent with strangulation.
Two years later, in November 2017, Bilecki reported that her 13-month-old daughter, Jasmine, was not breathing. She made this call while her husband was deployed, and she had attempted to reach him before contacting her in-laws. Just before Jasmine’s grandparents arrived, Bilecki called 911.
Investigators found evidence of Bilecki’s internet searches on her phone, which included phrases such as “ways to suffocate,” “ways to kill a human with no proof,” and “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught,” among others. Jasmine died a few days later, with an autopsy revealing that her cause of death was a lack of oxygen.
Following these findings, investigators reopened the original investigation into Chyanne’s death. In August 2018, a grand jury in Fairbanks indicted Bilecki. The case saw years of legal proceedings before Superior Court Judge Patricia Haines accepted Bilecki’s guilty plea over the summer.
The state requested that each murder be punished with 65 years, with 40 years suspended for one count and 45 years suspended for the second count. The judge granted this request. Upon her release, Bilecki will be subject to a maximum of 10 years probation and will not be allowed unsupervised contact with minors under 16 in non-public locations.
Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire expressed his shock at the crimes, stating, “Although we cannot pretend that anything will ever make up 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.”