Judge Rejects Plea Deal for Father Accused of Shooting His Daughter’s Mother and Leaving Her Body for 5-Year-Old to Discover

A Wyoming judge has rejected a plea agreement that could have allowed a father accused of killing his daughter’s mother to spend as little as 18 years in prison. The decision came after the victim’s family strongly opposed the deal, arguing that the proposed sentence failed to reflect the gravity of the alleged crime — one that left a 5-year-old girl to discover her mother’s bloodied body.

Sterling Louis Black Jr., 25, is charged in the death of Angelina Bell, 24, who was found dead inside a room at the Ol’ Wyoming Motel in Riverton, Wyoming, on March 7, 2026. According to court documents cited by Law&Crime, the couple’s young daughter was the one who led responding officers to her mother’s body. The child reportedly told police, “Momma’s in my bathroom,” as officers tried to determine what had happened.

Investigators said Bell had suffered a gunshot wound to the face. Inside the motel bathroom, detectives reportedly recovered a spent 9 mm shell casing from the toilet bowl and discovered a handgun case for a SAR 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. The firearm itself was initially missing. Authorities also noted evidence of possible drug and alcohol use in the room, although the full circumstances surrounding Bell’s death remain subject to the criminal proceedings.

The child later made several statements to investigators about the events surrounding her mother’s death. According to the affidavit, she reportedly said that her father had gone for a walk, that her mother had blood on her, and that her father had been angry with her mother. These statements became part of the evidence examined by investigators as they worked to reconstruct the final moments before Bell was killed.

Black initially faced a second-degree murder charge. Under a proposed plea agreement, he would have pleaded guilty to manslaughter and child endangerment in exchange for a prison sentence of 18 to 20 years. However, Fremont County District Judge Jason Conder rejected the agreement, reportedly because its fixed sentencing terms would have left him with no discretion to impose a different punishment based on the circumstances of the case.

Bell’s father, Byron Bell, had strongly opposed the deal and described it as the “deal of the century.” He told Cowboy State Daily that his daughter’s life could not be measured against an 18-to-20-year prison term. Following the judge’s decision, he expressed relief that the agreement had been rejected, emphasizing his belief that the person responsible should spend as many years in prison as possible.

After Bell’s body was discovered, Black reportedly contacted authorities several hours later to say he intended to turn himself in. His father had allegedly found him in an abandoned trailer on the family’s property and urged him to do the right thing. The older man also turned over a SAR 9 mm handgun that police said had a serial number matching the firearm case recovered from the motel room.

With the plea agreement rejected, Black has been permitted to withdraw his guilty plea, and the case is expected to proceed toward trial unless prosecutors and the defense reach another resolution. A jury trial on the second-degree murder charge is scheduled to begin on January 25, 2027. For Bell’s family, the judge’s decision marks an important development in their pursuit of justice, while the young girl at the center of the tragedy faces the loss of her mother at an age when she should have been surrounded by safety and care.

Source: Law&Crime