VALPARAISO, IN – A 48-year-old Indiana lady has been sentenced to jail after her 10-year-old foster son died from asphyxiation when she sat on him, believing he was “faking” misery. Jennifer Lee Wilson was charged with reckless murder within the demise of Dakota Stevens.
On April twenty fifth, police responded to an emergency name at Wilson’s Valparaiso house, the place they discovered Dakota unresponsive. Officers famous a visual bruise on the boy’s neck and chest. Regardless of makes an attempt to resuscitate him, Dakota was pronounced lifeless on the hospital two days later.
Investigators realized that Dakota, who was 4’10” and weighed 90 kilos, had run away from house earlier that day. Wilson, who’s 4’11” and weighs 340 kilos, advised police she discovered him at a neighbor’s home and introduced him again. She claimed Dakota was “appearing dangerous” and throwing himself on the bottom.
Wilson admitted to sitting on Dakota for roughly 5 minutes. Ring surveillance footage corroborated her account, capturing the second she was positioned on the boy’s neck and head space as he screamed. The video revealed Dakota’s screams regularly fading till he grew to become silent.
Wilson chillingly advised investigators that she initially believed Dakota was “faking” his misery. “Are you faking?” she reportedly requested the lifeless boy earlier than instructing one other baby to name 911. “I used to be laying on him and he was appearing dangerous,” Wilson said within the video.
An post-mortem revealed Dakota died of mechanical asphyxia, and the style of demise was dominated a murder. He suffered catastrophic accidents, together with organ and gentle tissue injury, in addition to liver and lung hemorrhaging.
A neighbor reported that Dakota had sought refuge at her house earlier that day, asking to be adopted and claiming his “dad and mom” had hit him.
In January, Wilson was sentenced to 6 years in jail, with one 12 months suspended to be served on probation. She had been fostering three adopted kids on the time of the incident.
The Indiana Division of Little one Providers has confirmed that Wilson’s foster father or mother license is suspended and beneath overview.