LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville pediatrician convicted of trying to kill her ex-husband in a murder-for-hire plot in 2022 will now spend more than a decade in prison.
Stephanie Russell, who worked at Kidzlife Pediatrics in Norton Commons, pleaded guilty to one count of murder for hire and one count of stalking in April.
On Wednesday, a judge sentenced her to 12 years in prison followed by three years supervised release. She has also been ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
In court Wednesday, the judge decided not to add more charges after prosecutors said Russell continued to look for ways to kill her ex-husband after her arrest.
Prosecutors said a day after accepting her plea deal, Russell asked other inmates if they knew of anyone who could kill him. However, the judge said since Russell didn't directly contact someone, no further charges would be considered.
Russell chose not to speak in court, but her ex-husband testified about the harassment and said the children have been “doing very well” since her arrest.
Defense attorneys argued that Russell is mentally ill and needs help.
"I agree that she probably needs some mental health treatment among other things just for the process she's been through in the last two year or more with this situation," David Mour, Russell's defense attorney, said.
However, prosecutors said she has a personality disorder, not a mental illness. The prosecution said an expert determined Russell was delusional but could still be held responsible for the plot.
Case Background
Russell was arrested back in May of 2022. Court documents revealed she had agreed to pay $7,000 to a hitman, who was an FBI agent, to kill her ex-husband.
However, the plan to kill the man started years prior, according to the documents.
In 2019, she accused her ex-husband of child abuse, however an LMPD detective found no evidence of abuse. The couple later divorced, and Russell lost custody of her children but did receive supervised visitation two days a week, according to court documents.
Investigators said Russell was also harassing and stalking her ex-husband during custody hearings between December 2018 and August 2019.
The LMPD detective later told the FBI in November 2019 she may have uncovered the murder-for-hire plot. Russell’s ex-husband told police he believed Russell was trying to hire an assassin to kill him and get custody of their children.
A former nanny told investigators Russell approached her multiple times asking if she knew “really bad people” who could get rid of her ex-husband and went into details about the timing and location of the would-be murder, an affidavit said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Russell began asking employees at the pediatrics center in Prospect if they knew anyone who could kill the man in July 2021. One of the employees also contacted police the following spring about what Russell called “Christmas flowers,” a code she used when referencing the attempted murder plot.
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Russell began speaking about the plan with an undercover FBI agent in May of 2022.
Prosecutors said the two agreed on $7,000 to kill Russell’s ex-husband and surveillance video showed he place $3,500 in a box outside the medical office for the hitman to collect.
Court records said she agreed to pay the other half once the job was complete.
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