Red Lake mom on trial, accused of murdering two sons, fleeing with youngest son in case that sparked Amber Alert

Jurors in a downtown Minneapolis courtroom silently wiped away tears as they viewed graphic images of two young brothers stabbed in their home. It was the first day of their mother’s murder trial.

Jennifer Stately, 37, an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, is charged with murdering her sons Remi and Tristan, ages 6 and 5, on March 15, 2024. After the stabbings and setting her home ablaze on the reservation, she fled with her youngest son, Ethan, then 3 years old, sparking a statewide Amber Alert — the first in the system’s 22 years in Minnesota to come from a tribal reservation.

A motorist spotted Stately’s vehicle an hour after the alert was issued and called 911. Stately was initially charged in state district court with child neglect, as the toddler was malnourished and covered in wounds. Federal prosecutors later indicted her on charges of premeditated murder, murder in the course of committing child abuse, murder in the course of committing arson, arson and felony child neglect.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, began Tuesday, Feb. 10, with Judge John Tunheim presiding.

Stately’s attorney Paul Engh, a high-profile defense attorney, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he plans to argue an insanity defense to the jury.

“She thought the house was demonized,” Engh said, adding that Stately believed her two older sons “threatened to kill her.”

“Jennifer was afflicted with a delusional thought process and acted in accordance with the delusions which could not have been true. So she had a fixed belief that was false, that she was in danger, and acted accordingly, and when she did so, she did not realize the wrongness of her act,” he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Kraker and Garrett Fields first called members of Red Lake’s fire and police departments to the witness stand Tuesday, introducing photo and video evidence.

Federal prosecutors warned the jury before showing photos from inside the scorched home. In the photos, Remi and Tristan lie on the floor beside each other, covered in blood and soot.

One juror covered her face with her hand. Two others wiped away tears.

The brothers’ school and community held vigils and ceremonies to mourn their loss. Red Lake Superintendent Tim Lutz told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the brothers were in Head Start and first grade.

The obituaries described Remi as “a smart, funny, loving little boy who loved to play with his brothers,” and Tristan as “an outgoing spirited little boy” who was the “protector of his brothers, even though he was the middle child.”

The Minneapolis FBI office led the investigation, assisted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

When firefighters arrived at the scene, two police officers were outside the home and had to break in through a window. A can of lighter fluid with bloody fingerprints was included as evidence.

Sgt. Joeseph Heyer and firefighter Angelo Hart both testified that they thought they were just responding to a house fire.

Hart said he reported a death when he found one of the boys, and later discovered the body of a second boy he hadn’t noticed at first because the body was covered in soot. Local authorities cleared the house and called the FBI, Heyer said.

The indictment said that Stately “willfully and maliciously set fire” to the home on Circle Pines Road. Charges say she deprived her toddler of food, clothing, shelter, health care and supervision between Dec. 28, 2023, until the day of his abduction and the deadly fire.

“[He] had a very strong smell of body odor, as if he had not been washed or changed in a few days,” the initial state charges said. “His cheeks were red and the sores appeared to be bleeding. … His feet were full of scabs that appeared to be a mix of old and new wounds. [He] did not seem to want to stand on his feet due to pain.”