Heather Mack Fights for Guardianship of Her Baby, Who's Leaving Prison Next Month

Twenty-three-month-old Stella Schaefer has never known life outside of prison.

She was born behind bars on March 17, 2015, and raised in a Bali prison cell shared with seven women and her mom, convicted murderer Heather Mack, for the past two years.

Mack, accused of brutally killing her mother, Sheila von Wiese Mack, while on vacation in Bali in 2014, has been allowed to keep her baby in prison with her until Stella turns 2 — an Indonesian custom granted to all new mothers.

Those two years, though, are quickly coming to a close.

While Mack’s lawyer in Bali told the Chicago Tribune Mack was insistent on keeping Stella in the country so they could see each other twice a week, Stella’s paternal grandmother strongly disagrees.

According to NBC Chicago, Stella’s grandmother wants Stella back in Illinois and filed for guardianship last Thursday in Cook County.

Kia Walker, the mom of Mack’s ex-boyfriend and convicted killer Tommy Schaefer, told the Tribune she wants Stella in Chicago with her as soon as she’s transferred out of prison next month.

“My granddaughter deserves an equal opportunity to a better start at life, and she deserves to know her grandmother,” Walker, 44, said. “I believe it is in her best interest that she’s brought back to America.”

Walker also told the Tribune that she’s had frequent contact with her son while he’s been in jail, and that he said he also wants Stella to go back to the United States with Walker.

According to the Daily Mail, if Stella stays in Indonesia she would be raised by a local family or be thrown into state-provided care until her 21-year-old mother serves her 10-year sentence.

Schaefer, who was also convicted in the case, is serving an 18-year sentence in the Bali prison.

Stella's fate after jail is expected to become clear in the coming weeks as her second birthday approaches. Continue to check Patch for updates on this case.

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Photos courtesy of Getty Images