A 10-year-old boy has died after his 24-stone-heavy foster mother sat on him for misbehaving. Jennifer Lee Wilson has now been charged with reckless homicide following the death of Dakota Levi Stevens in Berrien County, Michigan. Wilson, 48, explained to the authorities that Dakota had run off earlier in the day of the incident before finding him at a neighbour’s house.
The foster mum explained that the child began misbehaving when they returned to her home in Valparaiso. He reportedly threw himself on the ground outside. Following this, Wilson allegedly sat on the boy, putting pressure on his head and neck, while on the phone with his case worker – he was reportedly screaming at this point.
She told police that she sat on the boy for around five minutes before he stopped moving, claiming she thought he was pretending when he went quiet.
Dakota, who had been placed in this home for around a month, was then rolled over where Wilson noted that his eyelids were unusually pale.
Another child swiftly called emergency services, but the foster boy had already stopped breathing and had no pulse when they arrived.
Dakota, who weighed 6.5 stone, was airlifted away to hospital where he remained on life support for two days before he was taken off and tragically died.
An autopsy found Dakota had suffered catastrophic injuries, including organ and soft tissue damage and liver and lung haemorrhaging, while the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia.
The coroner’s office, which concluded the causes behind Dakota’s death in April last year, declared the incident as homicide.
Ring doorbell footage obtained by the court shows Wilson lying on top of the boy’s neck and head while he screamed. He eventually began to stop, which was when Wilson noticed he wasn’t moving and began shouting “Dakota” multiple times.
“I was laying on him and he was acting bad,” Wilson is heard saying in the video.
In January, she was sentenced to six years in prison, with one year suspended to be served on probation, according to NBC5.