A federal jury has convicted a Red Lake woman of murder and arson in the deaths of her two young sons after prosecutors said she attacked the boys with a knife, set their home on fire and fled with her third child, setting off an Amber Alert.
Jennifer Marie Stately, 37, was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson after a trial in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. The verdict centers on a March 15, 2024, fire on the Red Lake Nation that investigators say was deliberately set. The case drew statewide attention because it involved a missing child alert, questions about who had legal authority to prosecute the crimes on the reservation, and a defense argument that Stately was legally insane when the violence occurred.
Prosecutors told jurors that Stately was alone with her children at their home on Red Lake Nation when the attacks happened. Authorities said her older son, 6-year-old Remi Stately, was fatally stabbed. Her younger son, 5-year-old Tristan Stately, was injured and then trapped inside the burning home, investigators said. Federal officials said he died from carbon monoxide poisoning as the fire filled the house with smoke and toxic fumes. After the fire was set, Stately left the area in a vehicle with her youngest child, who was 3 at the time, authorities said. A motorist later spotted her in Todd County, about 150 miles south of Red Lake, and called law enforcement. Officers stopped the vehicle and arrested her, ending the Amber Alert, officials said.
Federal prosecutors said the fire was not an accident and described it as part of the attack. Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined that three separate fires were started using gasoline and lighter fluid, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Officials said two of the fires were placed at exit points, which investigators believe made it harder for anyone inside to get out. U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said the jury’s verdict followed a two-and-a-half-week trial in front of U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim. The jury rejected Stately’s insanity defense, which argued that she could not appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions because of severe mental illness.
At sentencing, prosecutors are expected to argue that the convictions reflect both the violence against the boys and the planning involved in setting multiple fires, while defense lawyers may continue to press mental health issues raised during trial. Stately’s attorney, Paul Engh, told the Minnesota Star Tribune during the trial that Stately believed the home was “demonized” and that she thought her two older sons threatened to kill her. The jurors reached their decision quickly, according to multiple local reports, returning guilty verdicts after about an hour of deliberations. The U.S. attorney’s office said Stately will remain in custody while the court schedules sentencing.
The youngest child, identified only in court documents as a minor, became a major part of the case’s early public timeline. When officers found him in the vehicle in Todd County on March 15, 2024, charging documents described extensive scabs, open sores and signs of serious neglect. Hospital staff noted sores and lesions across his body and teeth so badly decayed that he struggled to chew food, according to reports on the initial state charges. Doctors also raised questions about whether some of the child’s wounds could have come from contact with chemicals or a heat source, though the early documents did not provide a final cause. Those early allegations led to state-level charges in Todd County related to assault and neglect, separate from the later federal murder and arson case tied to the deaths of the two boys.
The case also highlighted the complicated map of criminal jurisdiction in Minnesota’s tribal communities. Federal prosecutors took the lead because the alleged killings and arson happened on Red Lake Nation, and the Red Lake Band has a unique legal status that affects which government can bring certain charges. Some local reports said state charges were later dismissed as officials determined the crimes fell outside state authority and within federal jurisdiction. When the federal indictment was announced in May 2024, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger said close work among tribal, local, state and federal agencies allowed investigators to move quickly in a case involving children. The U.S. attorney’s office said the investigation included the FBI, 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.
Officials described the verdict as a painful moment of accountability for a community that has carried the loss for nearly two years. FBI official Rick Evanchec said the boys had “no chance at survival” while in the care of the person who should have protected them. ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Spence E. Burnett said the agency’s certified fire investigators brought fire science expertise to help determine how the blazes started. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said the case left a lasting mark on Red Lake and praised the quick report from the motorist who helped end the Amber Alert. Kendall Kingbird Sr., director of the Red Lake Department of Public Safety, said no verdict can undo the loss, but he hoped the outcome brings some closure for loved ones and the broader community.
In Red Lake, the deaths of Remi and Tristan were mourned by relatives, classmates and tribal community members, with vigils held soon after the fire. Local officials have said the brothers were in Head Start and first grade, and their obituaries described them as playful and close with their siblings. The federal trial in Minneapolis reopened those wounds as jurors and witnesses reviewed evidence from the fire scene and the children’s injuries. Prosecutors said the verdict closes the question of who was responsible, but not the larger question of why two boys died in their home on a night that began like any other.
Stately’s sentencing date had not been announced as of Sun., March 1, and federal officials said she will remain in custody until she returns to court. Prosecutors Rachel L. Kraker and Garrett S. Fields handled the case for the U.S. attorney’s office, which said additional information about sentencing would be released when the court sets a date.
Author note: Last updated March 1, 2026.