Mum who suffocated her four-month-old baby caught killing her one-year-old just two years later

A mother has been sentenced to 130 years in prison, with 45 years suspended, after admitting to killing her two infant daughters in separate incidents in Alaska.

Stephany Elizabeth Bilecki, 30, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of her children, who were killed two years apart.

The murders took place in 2015 and 2017, with Bilecki, previously known as Stephany LaFountain, suffocating both her daughters in isolated incidents.

In September 2015, Bilecki informed her boyfriend and mother that her four-month-old daughter Chyanne had died.

She contacted emergency services shortly before her mother arrived at the scene.

Although, at first, Chyanne’s death was attributed to sudden infant death syndrome, subsequent investigation revealed she had actually died from injuries consistent with strangulation.

This death would later be re-examined after the murder of her second child raised suspicions about Bilecki’s involvement.

In November 2017, while her husband was deployed, Bilecki attempted to contact him about their 13-month-old daughter Jasmine not breathing.

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Unable to reach him, she called her in-laws and emergency services.

In the days before Jasmine’s death, Bilecki had made disturbing internet searches, including “ways to suffocate,” “ways to kill a human with no proof,” and “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught”.

An autopsy later revealed that Jasmine had died from lack of oxygen, prompting investigators to re-examine Chyanne’s case.

In August 2018, Bilecki was indicted by a grand jury in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Former Fairbanks Police Chief Eric Jewkes reflected on the case, saying: “Just think about a mother killing both her children over two years, completely isolated events, and what that means, and sometimes just the evil that exists, that’s out there.”

Fairbanks District Attorney Joe Dallaire stated: “The conduct forming the basis of defendant Bilecki’s convictions shocks the conscience.”

He added that he hoped the sentences would provide “some measure of justice” to the families of Jasmine and Chyanne.

Upon release, Bilecki will face up to 10 years of probation and will be barred from having unsupervised contact with minors under 16 in non-public places.

The judge handed down sentences of 65 years for each murder, with one count suspended for 40 years and the second for 45 years.

Bilecki was described as “barely audible” when she accepted legal responsibility during her guilty plea, which was accepted by Superior Court Judge Patricia Haines over the summer.