A tragic story from Fairbanks, Alaska, has shocked the community as a young mother was sentenced to decades in prison for killing her two baby daughters, just two years apart.
Stephany Bilecki, 29, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of second-degree murder, and on December 9, a judge handed down a sentence of 130 years, with 85 of those years suspended. This means Bilecki will spend at least 45 years behind bars for these heartbreaking crimes.
The first tragedy happened in 2015 when Bilecki called her boyfriend and her mom, saying her 4-month-old daughter, Chyanne, had died. Before her mother could get there, Bilecki called 911.
Emergency responders rushed Chyanne to the hospital, but it was too late—she was pronounced dead on September 15. At the time, doctors thought the healthy baby girl might have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
But just two years later, in 2017, another terrible incident raised red flags. Bilecki tried calling her husband, who was deployed at the time, and her in-laws to say her 13-month-old daughter, Jasmine, wasn’t breathing. Before her in-laws could arrive, Bilecki again called 911. Jasmine was taken to the hospital but sadly passed away a few days later, on November 24.
This time, investigators started asking more questions. When detectives looked into Jasmine’s death, they also reopened the case of Chyanne’s passing. What they found was disturbing.
Just an hour before calling for help for Jasmine, Bilecki had reportedly searched the internet for things like “Ways to suffocate,” “Best ways to suffocate,” and “How to commit the perfect murder.” She even looked up whether drowning could be detected during an autopsy.
The autopsy on Jasmine showed she died from complications of anoxia, which happens when the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen. While Chyanne’s cause of death wasn’t clear at the time, investigators found injuries that suggested she had been suffocated.
Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire called Bilecki’s actions “shocking” and said they had caused unimaginable pain to the babies’ fathers and other family members. “Although nothing can ever undo these losses,” he said, “I hope these convictions and the sentences bring some measure of justice to the families and the Fairbanks community.”
This case has left many grieving and shaken, but it also serves as a sobering reminder of how important it is to protect the most vulnerable among us.
Press Release: https://law.alaska.gov/press/releases/2024/121024-Bilecki.html
