Father Sentenced for Daughter’s Tragic Death in Car Fire

A father who “lost consciousness” ended up leaving his 2-year-old daughter in a burning car. He survived the incident but misled police about her location until they discovered her charred body strapped in a car seat.

Nicholas Stemmen, 34, was sentenced on Monday to a minimum of 22 years behind bars for the tragic death of his daughter, Lillianna, in northwest Ohio in September 2024.

“My baby girl is gone. And for what? Her father had a night of drinking? He killed her,” Liliana’s mother expressed in an emotional letter read during the sentencing.

Stemmen admitted to consuming at least 10 drinks before he was apprehended in Lima, where his vehicle caught fire and police found him with his daughter inside.

When authorities arrived, they encountered a visibly upset Stemmen standing in the driveway, as his 2013 GMC Terrain was “fully engulfed in flames.”

An officer on the scene reported noticing the smell of alcohol on Stemmen and observed that he was unsteady on his feet, even falling to the ground at one point.

Officers also mentioned that Stemmen had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

While fire officials were putting out the blaze, Stemmen claimed there was “no one else” in the vehicle. He suggested that his daughter was with her grandfather instead.

However, after extinguishing the fire, the fire battalion chief discovered a “small body” in the car seat. It was identified as human based on visible skin and blood stains.

He later confessed to police that he had blacked out after drinking prior to the incident.

During the sentencing hearing, Stemmen acknowledged that he had “no recollection” of the moments leading to his daughter’s death.

Last month, he pleaded guilty to aggravated arson, manslaughter, and child endangerment.

The judge sentenced him to 22 years to a maximum of 27 years and six months.

“He took her away from everyone who loved her so much,” Liliana’s mother remarked. “He should spend the rest of his life in prison.”