A Powell man has been ordered to keep serving 32-39 years in prison for killing his infant child and, in a separate incident, sexually abusing a teenager.

Jason Getzfreid accepted the prison time last year as part of an agreement with prosecutors, but recently asked for a reduction.

However, Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson declined to lower the sentence for the “severe, horrendous crime.”

“I’m going to hold you to your agreement,” Simpson told Getzfreid at a brief hearing last month. “It is part of the punishment. It’s part of your acknowledgement as to what you did, and for the crime you must pay.”

Getzfreid, 30, is serving two separate sentences for two separate crimes.

The first occurred in August 2020, when the then-26-year-old took “immodest, immoral or indecent liberties” with a 15- or 16-year-old girl. Getzfreid struck a deal with prosecutors to serve two to four years in prison, but while out on bond and awaiting sentencing, he committed a more serious offense.

On an early morning in August 2021, court records say Getzfreid became frustrated with his 4-month-old daughter, Rune, and shook her. He quickly took the child to the hospital, but the injuries he’d inflicted proved fatal.

In April 2023, Getzfreid pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and accepted a 30- to 35-year sentence, which was added to the time for third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

Getzfreid said he’s been using his time behind bars as productively as he can — seeking out resources and working to better himself; he said that process is “something that’s going to be lifelong.”

“… especially what happened to my daughter, to my child, it’s something that’s gonna be following me for the rest of my life and it’s gonna affect me for the rest of my life,” Getzfreid said at a June 21 hearing.

He specifically asked the court to make his two sentences concurrent, or overlapping. His defense attorney, Tim Blatt, said the change would only shorten Getzfreid’s sentence by a little over a year.

The Park County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office often requires defendants to give up their right to seek a sentence reduction when they take a plea deal, but didn’t make that a condition for Getzfreid.

“... if in fact somebody is able to prove and meet their burden [for a lower sentence], I don’t see why the court shouldn’t grant it,” Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele told the court. “But that’s not this case, your honor. I don’t see anything that would warrant the court modifying the sentence at this point.”

Simpson agreed.

“You knew what the terms were, and you accepted it,” he told the defendant.

Due to staffing shortages within the Wyoming Department of Corrections, Getzfreid is temporarily being housed at a private prison in Mississippi.  

Department records indicate Getzfreid will become eligible for parole in October 2041, with a projected discharge date in February 2045.

As a part of his sentence, Getzfreid must put a portion of his monthly prison earnings toward a cemetery memorial for his daughter Rune.