Nicholas Stemen, 34, downed at least 10 drinks and turned his car into a ball of flames but the coward left his two-year-old in the burning vehicle and told cops ‘no one’ was inside
A coward dad left his two-year-old little girl in a burning car just to save himself from the horror inferno.
Lillyanna Stemen was found dead inside the burning vehicle, left on the side of a road, but her dad lied to police and said “no one” was inside. Cops revealed they rushed to the scene, following reports of a car being driven erratically before it stopped.
The caller also told operators the car was missing a tyre and swerved out of the lane. Nicholas Stemen, 34, pleaded guilty to aggravated arson, involuntary manslaughter and endangering a child – he will spend decades behind bars.
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Local police, in Allen County, Ohio, said the car was “fully engulfed in flames” by the time they rushed to the scene. They spotted the dad stood outside the vehicle and he was “visibly upset” about his destroyed car, according to investigators.
A cop at the scene said Stemen had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and cops “could smell an odour of an alcoholic beverage”, according to an affidavit. Police even said the dad lied to them when they asked him if anybody was in the vehicle.
The dad told cops he had a daughter but she was at her grandfather’s house at the time. Despite this, the deputy “observed a small body” who was “in a forward facing car seat” when she looked inside the car.
Lillyanna’s body was found in the vehicle, after emergency responders put the deadly fire out. The dad later confessed that he drank at least 10 alcoholic drinks, mostly beer, before the horror blaze.
He claimed he “blacked out” and could not remember all the details from the moment his daughter died, according to police documents. In a letter, read at Stemen’s sentencing, the heartbroken mum said: “My baby girl is gone. And for what? For her father enjoying a night of drinking? He killed her. He took her from everyone who loved her so much. He should spend his life behind bars.”
Raphael Villegas, Stemen’s attorney, argued he was not a “monster”, saying: “This is a tragedy; not something intentional but a tragedy, nonetheless. Nick is not a monster, he is just a man who has been broken into pieces and is now trying to put those pieces back together.”
Stemen was convicted in October and was sentenced, on November 17, to a total of 22 to 31 years in prison, according to People. The dad apologised but said his “sorry” was insufficient.
In court, he said: “I know what my actions caused. Now I won’t get to see my little girl grow up, and that hits me to my core. I’m sorry I took her away from her sisters. I’m sorry she’s gone. I have no recollection of what happened.”
