Holdrege man gets 14 to 18 years in daughter’s death

HOLDREGE, Neb. (KSNB) - A Holdrege man is heading to prison following the death of his infant daughter more than a year later.

According to court records, 25-year-old Jason Remmenga was sentenced in Phelps County District Court for a term of 14 to 18 years.

Remmenga had taken a plea deal earlier this year. He pleaded no contest to negligent child abuse resulting in death for the 2024 death of his daughter, Lea.

Remmenga had been charged with intentional child abuse resulting in death, but that was amended as part of the deal. Two other charges were dropped.

According to the arrest affidavit, Holdrege Police were contacted by staff at a Kearney hospital on May 21, 2024 about a possible incident of child abuse. The officer said in the affidavit that once the baby started getting treated, hospital staff found she had bleeding from the brain as well as several fractures to her ribs, which were already beginning to heal.

She was later transferred to Children’s for a higher level of care.

Court documents show that doctors at the Omaha hospital concluded that Lea’s injuries were the result of abusive head trauma and that the trauma had to have occurred very close to the time she began showing physical symptoms of distress. Hospital staff also confirmed the previous rib fractures and that they were showing signs of healing.

The attorney at the time confirmed that the 4-month-old had died at Children’s in Omaha on June 9, 2024.

The case against the child’s mother was dismissed.

Elaina Nietfeld had faced two counts of felony child abuse in Phelps County Court, but prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges with prejudice.