Boy asks neighbor to adopt him minutes before he’s found with no pulse, Indiana cops say
Minutes after a 10-year-old boy asked a neighbor to adopt him because he said his foster parents were abusing him, he was found at home without a pulse, Indiana officials told news outlets.
Now, his foster mother is accused of killing him, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest as of July 12, court records show.
The warrant comes more than two months after authorities say the woman, Jennifer Lee Wilson, killed Dakota Levi Stevens by lying on top of him, WBBM reported.
Authorities responded to the Valparaiso home on the afternoon of April 25 and found the boy was unconscious, had no pulse and wasn’t breathing, according to documents obtained by the station.
Just 30 minutes before first responders arrived at the scene, Dakota had been at a neighbor’s home and asked her to adopt him and said his foster parents hit him and wouldn’t speak to his caseworker, investigators said, WGN reported.
Dakota had been placed with his family less than a month, and there were already three other children at the home who Wilson and her husband had adopted, according to WBBM.
Wilson noticed Dakota wasn’t at home, went looking for him and found him talking to the neighbor, WMAQ reported. He initially refused to get into the car with her, and the neighbor said Dakota had asked her to call the police — but Wilson told her she didn’t understand the situation and that she needed to stay out of it.
Eventually, she brought Dakota back home but he quickly tried to run away, officials said, according to the outlet. In view of their doorbell camera, officials said Wilson got on top of Dakota to stop him from leaving.
After several minutes, she got up and saw Dakota was not moving, began screaming his name and attempted CPR. The doorbell camera captured the struggle and showed that, at one point, Wilson laid on Dakota for nearly seven minutes, the station reported.
Dakota was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead two days later, as a result of asphyxia, according to WGN.
Wilson is facing a charge of reckless homicide, according to recently filed court documents. Her bond is set at $20,000.
Valparaiso is a roughly 140-mile drive northwest from Indianapolis.
This story was originally published July 14, 2024 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Boy asks neighbor to adopt him minutes before he’s found with no pulse, Indiana cops say."