NEW BUFFALO, Mich. (TCN) — A 48-year-old Indiana woman who had a warrant out for her arrest in connection with her foster son’s death was apprehended in Michigan over the weekend.
On April 25, Porter County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home in Valparaiso after receiving information about a 10-year-old boy suffering a medical emergency. The boy, Dakota Stevens, was taken to a hospital and later airlifted to another facility. He died two days later when he was taken off life support.
In June, the medical examiner ruled Stevens’ death homicide by mechanical asphyxia.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the Porter County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for Jennifer Wilson’s arrest on Friday, July 12, for a charge of reckless homicide. She was arrested the next day in Berrien County, Michigan, following a traffic stop.
The Indianapolis Star, which cites Wilson’s arrest affidavit, reports Stevens and Wilson got into a fight on April 25 after he fled to a neighbor’s house. Wilson reportedly picked him up and took him home, but the boy allegedly started “acting up” and threw himself on the ground.
Wilson reportedly laid on top of him and contacted his caseworker. He started screaming, then stopped. Wilson claimed she initially believed Stevens was acting, but she then saw he was pale.
The Indianapolis Star reports Wilson, who weighs 340 pounds, was on the boy, who weighed 91 pounds, for about five minutes.
Ring doorbell video footage showed Wilson pinning Stevens down. She said on the 911 call, “I was laying on him and he was acting bad.”
WMAQ-TV reports first responders noticed the boy had bruises on his neck and chest. When he arrived at the hospital, tests showed he sustained brain swelling that is “consistent with being deprived of oxygen for an extended period of time.”
Investigators spoke with the neighbor whose house Stevens went to, and she reportedly said Stevens asked her to adopt him because his foster parents hit him and he couldn’t contact his caseworker. That occurred less than an hour before Wilson called 911. WMAQ reports the neighbor did not notice any injuries on the child.