Judge won’t reduce sentence for man who killed baby

POWELL (WNE) — 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.