Alaska, Fairbanks: A young mother allegedly researched the internet to find ways to kill her babies and then avoid being caught. She faces charges over the deaths of two children, one in 2015 and one in 2017. The 2015 death was not initially investigated as a Crime. However, police now suspect the four-month-old baby was deliberately suffocated. The child from 2017 was 13-months old. CNN reported the woman, identified as Stephany Lafountain, 23, called the Fairbank Emergency Services saying her child was not breathing. The police referred to the two children who passed away under similar circumstances as C.P.
and J.L.
Murdered babies were completely healthy at the time of death
USA Today noted that LaFountain's husband who serves in the military was on deployment at the time of the death of JL who passed away at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital following a lack of oxygen. The husband was not the father of the first child who died in 2015. According to KMOV4, both the children were "entirely healthy, with no genetic abnormalities, no diseases, and no injuries." After the death of J.L police became suspicious about the first death. It took nine months to fully investigate the case.
The family had to keep quiet about the circumstances of J.L's death as the investigation was ongoing. Police Chief Eric Jewkes noted that it must have been very difficult for the family.
However, he hoped that the release of the news means that they can find some "closure." The family was involved with J.L's death as Stephany called them and they tried to administer CPR. Presumably, they had to give their statements to the police, suffer the tragic loss, and suspect there was a killer close to them.
Woman allegedly searched the internet for ways to kill and get away with it
CNN wrote that police said in the hour before the murder, the accused woman had researched a number of things on the internet. Forensic examination established that she had searched for "Drowning and Forensics, Ways to Suffocate, and 16 steps to kill someone and not get caught." There were more searches about drowning, perfect murders and suffocation.
It took time to gather the necessary evidence to charge the woman but on Thursday, August 30, police arrested her. She was charged with second and first degree murder. The first child accounted for one of the charges. KMOV4 noted that the court records show she was assigned an "unidentified public defender."
