A father from Ohio has been sentenced to prison after tragically abandoning his 2-year-old daughter in a burning car while he saved himself. Police discovered the child still strapped into her forward-facing car seat, despite the father initially claiming that no one was inside the vehicle.

Nicholas Stemen, 34, received a prison sentence ranging from a minimum of 22 years to a maximum of 27 years and 6 months for the death of his daughter, Lillyanna, in September 2024, as revealed by court records.

Stemen entered a guilty plea in October to charges including aggravated arson, involuntary manslaughter, and child endangerment. Details from his indictment and arrest affidavit, obtained by Law&Crime, describe how he was heavily intoxicated after consuming nearly a dozen beers and was driving erratically before his 2013 GMC Terrain ignited with Lillyanna inside.

Once his vehicle veered off the road, it caught fire after coming to a halt, with one tire missing. When Allen County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, called by another motorist, they found Stemen attempting to stand near the fiery SUV, according to the affidavit.

“The officers could detect the smell of alcohol coming from Stemen, and he was visibly unstable, even collapsing to the ground,” the affidavit states. “After the fire was extinguished by the American Township Fire Department, a battalion chief questioned Stemen about other occupants in the car. Stemen replied that there was no one else.”

When asked if he had any children, Stemen claimed his daughter was with her grandfather. However, a firefighter was directed to check inside the vehicle, as noted in the affidavit.

“Upon doing so, she observed a small body, in a forward-facing car seat,” the document recounts. “She stated she could tell it was human due to seeing skin and blood on the thighs.”

Stemen was taken into custody and questioned about what happened, with the drunk father telling detectives he spent the night “consuming at least 10 alcoholic beverages, namely beer, prior to and leading up to the incident,” according to the affidavit. It’s unclear where he was going.

“He had blacked out, and can not remember all the details,” the affidavit says.

A letter written by Lillyanna’s mother was read at Stemen’s sentencing on Monday, according to The Lima News. “My baby girl is gone. And for what? For her father enjoying a night of drinking?” the letter said. “He killed her. He took her from everyone who loved her so much. He should spend his life behind bars.”

Stemen reportedly spoke at the hearing and apologized for his actions, saying, “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 … I’m sorry she’s gone. I have no recollection of what happened.”

The judge overseeing Stemen’s case told him he was being sentenced to a “lifetime of thinking what your daughter could have been doing,” the Lima News reports.

“I feel bad for you,” the judge concluded. “I feel bad for everybody.”