(Fairbanks, AK) –Monday, Stephany Elizabeth Bilecki (formerly LaFountain), 29, was sentenced to a composite sentence of 130 years with 85 years suspended for the 2015 and 2017 murders of her infant children.
In 2015, Bilecki called her boyfriend, and then her mother to tell them her 4-month-old daughter, Chyanne, was dead, and then ten minutes later, just before her mother arrived, she finally called 911. Chyanne was otherwise healthy, and the death was originally presumed to be SIDS. Later investigation revealed minor injuries consistent with suffocation.
In 2017, Bilecki attempted to call her deployed husband, then her in-laws to report her 13-month-old daughter, Jasmine, was not breathing, and then, just before her in-laws arrived at the house, she finally called 911. A later search of her phone revealed internet searches and/or website visits within the hour before she called 911 involving “ways to sufficate” [sic], “ways to kill a human with no proof,” “drugs that can kill ppl with no trase”[sic], “can drowning show in an o autopsy report”[sic], “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught” and other similar searches and sites. The autopsy indicated cause of death was lack of oxygen.
Following a lengthy investigation, Bilecki was indicted by a Fairbanks grand jury on August 29, 2018, for the murders of her children.
Bilecki pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of Murder in the Second Degree for each child, with the active term of imprisonment agreed upon, and suspended time and probation conditions open to the court.
Superior Court Judge Patrica Haines presided over the sentencing hearing and imposed the sentencing provisions requested by the State of 65 years with 40 suspended for one count, and 65 years with 45 suspended for the other count, for a total of 130 years with 85 suspended, and the maximum period of probation of 10 years. She is not to have unsupervised contact with minors under 16 in non-public locations.
Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire said “The conduct forming the basis of defendant Bilecki’s convictions shocks the conscience. 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. The work done here by Senior Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Crail, Paralegal Allison Watega, and the other employees involved in the prosecution of these offenses represents the best of the Fairbanks District Attorney’s Office and the Alaska Department of Law, and I am proud of their collaborative efforts to see justice through to the end. We thank the Fairbanks Police Department and the other investigators, doctors, and other professionals who assisted with the investigation and prosecution for their work in this case.”
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