An Indiana foster mom was sentenced last week to prison for the death of 10-year-old Dakota Levi Stevens last April.
In October, Jennifer Wilson admitted guilt to reckless homicide for a tragic incident where she, a 340-pound woman, sat on a 90-pound boy for at least seven minutes. The boy had sought refuge at a neighbor’s house, pleading for her to adopt him, as per WXIN.
Dakota was airlifted to a hospital in South Bend with severe trauma and died on April 27, two days after the incident.
Wilson escaped and was later apprehended in Michigan in July. A postmortem examination revealed the cause of death as mechanical asphyxia, alongside organ damage, soft tissue injuries, liver and lung hemorrhaging, and other harms, reported by CrimeOnline.
During investigations, Wilson claimed the boy had misbehaved that morning, prompting him to flee when asked to do chores. However, the neighbor recounted that the boy arrived at her doorstep, disclosing he had been struck in the face and that his foster parents prevented him from reaching out to his case manager.
Investigators viewed surveillance vides that showed Wilson lying across the boy, including several short clips and one that lasted for nearly seven minutes in which the boy is not moving at all.
Wilson was sentenced on Friday to six years in prison with one year suspended, according to WXIN. Her foster home license was suspended in June.
