A 37-year-old woman Jennifer Stately, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her two children at their home on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, United States.

Ms Stately was sentenced on November 6, 2026, by U.S. District judge, John Tunheim. She was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson.

On February 25, 2026, Ms Stately was convicted by a federal jury after a two-and-a-half-week trial.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Ms Stately attacked and killed her two young children. She assaulted the boys, inflicting several injuries on them, before fatally stabbing her older son.

She started three separate fires using gasoline and lighter fluid, setting fires at both exit points of their home.
Investigators established that the older boy died from sharp-force injuries, while his younger brother, trapped inside the house, died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Red Lake Department of Public Safety described the murders as a betrayal of parental responsibility, saying that a parent’s fundamental obligation was to protect children who cannot protect themselves.

After the incident, Ms Stately fled the scene and remained missing for several hours. Following the issuance of an AMBER Alert by the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, a motorist spotted her. She was subsequently apprehended and booked into Todd County Jail.