A Red Lake woman was sentenced Friday to life in federal prison for killing her two young sons and setting their home on fire on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in March 2024.
Jennifer Marie Stately, 37, was sentenced Nov. 6 by U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim for five counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. A federal jury convicted her Feb. 25 after a two-and-a-half-week trial.
The evidence at trial showed that Stately was alone with the boys at their home on March 15, 2024, when she assaulted them and attacked them with a knife, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She fatally stabbed her older son before setting the home on fire. ATF investigators determined she used gasoline and lighter fluid to start three separate fires, including fires at both exit points of the house.
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The older boy died of his sharp force injuries. The younger boy was trapped inside the home and died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Stately left the scene and was missing for several hours. Red Lake Tribal Police issued an AMBER Alert. Less than an hour later a motorist spotted her in Todd County, about 150 miles south of the home. Minnesota State Patrol, the Todd County Sheriff’s Department and the Long Prairie Police Department responded. She was apprehended and booked in the Todd County Jail.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on all six counts: 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 committing arson and one count of arson. Stately pursued an insanity defense at trial. The jury rejected it.
U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said, “Jennifer Stately’s murder of two of her children shocks the conscience. I offer my deepest condolences to the family and Red Lake community who lost two innocent lives.”
ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph Persails of the Saint Paul Field Division said, “This case serves as a tragic reminder that arson is not merely a property crime. Fire is indiscriminate and deadly.”
The FBI investigated with help from the ATF, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Todd County Sheriff’s Department, the Long Prairie Police Department and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department.
Related coverage: Federal Jury Finds Red Lake Woman Guilty in Deaths of 2 Sons
