Jennifer Stately Was Sentenced to Life in Prison Nov. 6 for Murdering Her Two Sons, Ages 5 and 6, and Setting Fire to Their Red Lake Nation Home

A federal judge sentenced Jennifer Marie Stately, 37, of Red Lake, Minnesota, to life in prison on Friday, November 6, 2026, for the deaths of two of her sons and the fire at their home on the Red Lake Nation. CBS News Minnesota reported that the boys were 5 and 6 years old.

The sentence closes a case that began on March 15, 2024, and moved through state and federal courts over more than two and a half years. Stately was 35 when federal prosecutors announced the charges in May 2024. This report sticks to what the court and officials have confirmed.

What the Federal Court Decided

U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim imposed the sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. A federal jury had convicted Stately on February 25, 2026, of five counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson, and the judge sentenced her to life in prison. Valley News Live reported that the life sentence applies on all counts and is to be served concurrently, with five years of supervised release and a $600 special assessment.

The CBS News Minnesota report described the same sentence and said the victims were two of her sons, ages 5 and 6, at Red Lake Tribal Nation in Minnesota.

The verdict announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office explains how five murder counts came from the deaths of two children. The jury found Stately guilty of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of murder in the course of child abuse, and one count of murder in the course of arson, along with one count of arson. The federal murder statute, 18 U.S.C. 1111, defines first-degree murder to include premeditated killings and killings committed while perpetrating arson or child abuse, and sets the punishment at death or life imprisonment.

The trial took place in federal court in Minneapolis before Tunheim, the judge who later handed down the sentence, and the jury reached its verdict after a trial of about two and a half weeks.

Stately pursued an insanity defense. Her attorney, Paul Engh, argued it at trial, according to Valley News Live, and the jury rejected it.

How the Case Reached Federal Court

The events happened on March 15, 2024, at a home on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in north-central Minnesota. An AMBER Alert was issued that evening for a third child, and a motorist helped locate the vehicle, according to the Justice Department’s announcement of the original charges. The third child was recovered. According to the later verdict announcement, the Red Lake Tribal Police Department issued the alert, and a motorist spotted Stately in Todd County, about 150 miles away, where she was apprehended and booked into the Todd County Jail. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said at the time that the case was another example of how AMBER Alerts save lives.

That announcement came on May 6, 2024, when she appeared in U.S. District Court and a magistrate judge ordered her held in custody. The indictment at that stage listed premeditated murder, murder in the course of child abuse, murder in the course of arson, arson and felony child neglect. The Justice Department noted then that the charges were allegations and that she was presumed innocent.

The case had an earlier chapter in state court. Fox 9 reported that Stately was first charged by the state with child-related offenses, but those charges were dismissed after it was determined that the Red Lake Reservation was outside state court jurisdiction. The case then proceeded in federal court.

The investigation was led by the FBI, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Todd County Sheriff’s Office, the Long Prairie Police Department and the Red Lake Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Kraker and Garrett Fields prosecuted the case.

What Officials Said About the Sentence

U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said the case “shocks the conscience” and offered condolences to the family and the Red Lake community, according to the Justice Department’s release.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson said the sentence may provide “some measure of justice” for the victims’ loved ones. ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph Persails said that arson “is not merely a property crime.”

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, called the conduct “the ultimate betrayal.” CBS News Minnesota quoted him adding that no sentence can bring the children back or erase the pain and suffering left behind.

Kendall Kingbird Sr., director of the Red Lake Department of Public Safety, said the community will keep the two children in its thoughts and prayers. After the February verdict, he had said the guilty verdict brought justice to a case that deeply affected the entire Red Lake Nation community.

Officials also spoke when the verdict came in. ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Spence Burnett said the agency’s commitment to protecting the public and the most innocent among them is unwavering, according to KIMT News 3, and FBI Interim Special Agent in Charge Rick Evanchec said his agency was honored to have partnered with federal, state and tribal law enforcement to bring justice.

No victim impact statement was included in the Justice Department’s release. The sentence was imposed on Friday, November 6, 2026, more than eight months after the jury’s verdict.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Chad Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons