Tween boy killed after 340 pound foster mom sat on him for 'acting bad' | Law Enforcement Today

VALPARASIO, IN - In January, a foster mom was sentenced to a mere six years in prison with one year suspended to be served on probation, after she was charged and convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a 10-year-old.

According to FOX 5, a 10-year-old boy, identified as Dakota Levi Stevens, was crushed to death after his foster mother, 48-year-old Jennifer Lee Wilson, who weighed 340 pounds, allegedly sat on him for several minutes because he was "acting bad."

The incident took place on April 25, 2024, when police were called to a home because the boy was not breathing. When police got there, the boy also had no pulse. An officer found bruising on the child's lower neck and chest. Officers attempted life-saving measures and the boy was transported to the hospital, where he later died.

The New York Post reported that Dakota died just one month after being placed in Wilson's custody. Wilson told police that the boy had just run away from home and she had found him at a neighbor's house. After finding the boy, he brought him back home. She said after they got back home he was still "acting bad" and threw himself on the ground, telling her that he was leaving. 

Court documents reportedly state that Wilson told police that "when she attempted to stop him from leaving, she does not know if she tackled Dakota or they fell to the ground however her intention was to hold him." She told police she sat on his midsection for about five minutes. The young boy eventually stopped moving, but she believed that he was faking it.

Before calling 911, Wilson asked, "Are you faking?" When she rolled him over and noticed his eyelids were pale she then called 911 and started CPR. On April 27, 2024, South Bend Memorial Hospital reported that Dakota had died. He suffered organ and soft tissue damage, liver and lung hemorrhaging, and other injuries. 

A autopsy revealed the cause of death as mechanical asphyxia and the manner of death as homicide. Dakota was 4'10" and 91 pounds, while Wilson was listed at 4'11" and 340 pounds. 

The neighbor told officers that Dakota ran to her house before the medical emergency and asked her to adopt him because his parents hit him in the face. The neighbor said she did not observe any signs of injury to the boy. Disturbing Ring camera footage reportedly shows a 20-second clip of Wilson sitting on the boy's head and neck as she squeezed the life out of his tiny frame; his desperate screams gradually growing quiet.

Wilson was fostering three other children in her Berrien County home, but a Department of Child Services spokesman confirmed that her foster parent license has been suspended and is being reviewed for permanent revocation.