A Minnesota woman was found guilty last week of killing stabbing two of her young children and setting fire to her home’s exits so that they couldn’t escape.
Jennifer Marie Stately, 37, had been charged with five counts of first degree murder and one count of arson, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said. Her trial lasted for two and half weeks.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Stately was charged with stabbing Remi and Tristan Stately, ages 6 and 5, on March 15, 2024. Then she set the fire that trapped the boys inside and fled with her then-3-year-old son.
An Amber Alert was issued for the toddler, and police later found Stately and the boy in Todd County, about 150 miles from their home on the Red Lake Nation. The boy had burns on most of his face and showed signs of neglect.
Meanwhile, the older of the two boys she stabbed was pronounced dead from his wounds, while the younger boy died from smoke inhalation.
Stately pursued an insanity defense at trial, the US Attorney’s Office said, but the jury rejected that defense, finding her guilty of two counts of first degree premeditated murder, two counts of murder in the course of committing child abuse, one count of murder in the course of committed arson, and one count of arson.
“The guilty verdict this week brings justice to a case that has deeply affected our entire Red Lake Nation community,” Red Lake Department of Public Safety Director Kendall Kingbird Sr. said. “Most importantly, our thoughts remain with the family and loved ones of the victims. No verdict can undo the pain of their loss, but we hope this outcome provides some sense of closure.”
Stately’s attorney, Paul Engh, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that his client “thought the house was demonized” and that Remi and Tristan had “threatened to kill her.”
“The verdict has compounded the tragedy. Ms. Stately has now forever lost her life to a prison cell,” Engh said in a statement.
He said the surviving boy is now in the care of her mother.
A date for sentencing has not been set.
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[Featured image: Jennifer Stately/Todd County Sheriff’s Office]