DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for fatally stabbing a 20-year-old woman in 2023 .
On November 14, 2023, the Des Moines Police Department was called to a hotel in the 400 block of East 30th Street for a report of a stabbing. When first responders arrived at the scene, they discovered a 20-year-old woman in a hotel room suffering from multiple stab wounds. The victim, identified as Alyssa Anne Maher , was transported to a hospital but later died.
Shortly after, police arrested and charged Brantlee Austin Gage Rainey, 25, in connection to Maher’s death. According to the Polk County Attorney’s Office, Rainey was using methamphetamine when he attacked Maher in the hotel room.
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Rainey entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder in February, a guilty plea where a defendant recognizes that prosecutorial evidence in the case would likely result in a guilty verdict but continues to maintain innocence. On Thursday, Rainey was sentenced to up to 50 years in prison…