A 10-year-old boy from Indiana, Dakota Levi Stevens, died after his foster mother, Jennifer Lee Wilson, allegedly sat on him for several minutes as a form of punishment. Wilson, 48, who weighed 340 pounds, was sentenced in January to six years in prison, with one year suspended to be served on probation. She was charged with reckless homicide in connection to the boy’s death.
On April 25, police responded to a home in Valparaiso, Indiana, after receiving a call about an unresponsive child. Officers found Dakota without a pulse and noticed bruising on his lower neck and chest. Despite attempts to resuscitate him, he was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
Wilson initially told police that Dakota had run away from home and she found him at a neighbor’s house before bringing him back. She claimed that he continued to misbehave, threw himself on the ground, and insisted that he was leaving. In an effort to stop him, she said she was unsure if she tackled him or if they fell, but her intention was to hold him down.
According to her statement, Wilson sat on Dakota’s midsection for about five minutes. When he stopped moving, she assumed he was pretending. She asked him, “Are you faking?” before rolling him over and realizing that his eyelids had turned pale. At that point, she attempted CPR and called 911 for help.
Two days later, on April 27, doctors at South Bend Memorial Hospital confirmed Dakota’s death. Medical reports indicated that he suffered severe internal injuries, including organ and soft tissue damage, as well as liver and lung hemorrhaging. The autopsy determined his cause of death to be mechanical asphyxia, and his manner of death was ruled a homicide.
A neighbor told police that Dakota had come to her house before the incident and asked her to adopt him, claiming that his parents hit him in the face. However, the neighbor said she did not notice any visible injuries. Shortly after, Wilson arrived and took Dakota back home.
Dakota was 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 91 pounds, while Wilson was listed at 4 feet 11 inches and weighed 340 pounds.
