10-year-old boy crushed to death after foster mother sat on him for ‘acting bad’

Warning: The following article contains details of a child’s death. Please proceed with care.

Jennifer Lee Wilson, a 48-year-old foster mother from Indiana, was sentenced in Jan. for the death of her 10-year-old foster son, Dakota Levi Stevens, who died in April 2024.

On the afternoon of April 25, 2024, police officers responded to an emergency call stemming from a residence where a young boy was reportedly not breathing. At the scene, the responders found the boy — identified as Dakota — had no pulse and had bruises on his neck and chest. He was lying down by the driveway of the home. Officers performed resuscitation measures but were unsuccessful. The paramedics arrived to take over, and Dakota was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

340 pound Jennifer Lee Wilson has been sentenced to six years in prison after she admitted to sitting on her foster son for misbehaving. She sat on him for a few minutes which crushed and killed him. pic.twitter.com/j0ADQtvfbu

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 9, 2025

According to Jennifer, her foster son refused to do his chores and was acting out before he fled from the house. She eventually found him talking to one of the neighbors some blocks away, and she brought him back to their home. She claimed Dakota insisted on leaving, which prompted her to sit on his midsection to stop him from fleeing while she called the caseworker. The incident was captured on a Ring doorbell camera where Jennifer, who weighs 340 pounds, sat on the neck and chest area of a 91-pound Dakota, who was flailing and attempting to free himself from the crushing weight. 

He eventually stopped moving, and it lasted for about five to seven minutes. Jennifer said he thought Dakota was faking when he stopped moving, and when she received no response, she rolled him and saw that he was pale. She performed CPR on him and called the authorities.

Police officers spoke with the female neighbor who revealed that Dakota had been pleading for help, asking her to call the police. She also shared that the young boy had begged her to adopt him, saying his parents hit him. But when Jennifer found them, she reportedly told the lady to “mind her own business” and forcibly took his foster son away.

Dakota passed away in the hospital two days later. His autopsy results showed that he died from mechanical asphyxia, which happens when an object or physical force prevents someone from breathing, leading to a lack of oxygen in the brain. Dakota had severe brain swelling, bleeding in the lungs and liver, as well as organ damage. His manner of death was ruled as a homicide.

In a shocking turn of events, it was revealed that Dakota had approached a neighbor just 30 minutes before the tragic incident, asking her to adopt him. The boy allegedly told the neighbor that his parents would hit him in the face.

The arrest of Jennifer Lee Wilson was not… pic.twitter.com/1ZDHNV58o1

— VisionaryVoid (@VisionaryVoid) July 24, 2024

Jennifer was arrested and charged with reckless homicide, to which she later pleaded guilty. Dakota had been living with his foster family for nearly a month at the time of his death. Three other adopted children also lived in the home but were removed following the incident. According to Dakota’s family members, the boy was removed from his biological parents’ home at 5 years old due to his parents’ drug use. He spent years moving between relatives’ homes, mental health facilities, and foster care. Despite efforts from his family to gain custody of him, they were unsuccessful.

In Jan. 2025, Jennifer was sentenced to six years in prison, the maximum sentence for reckless homicide in Indiana. However, the judge suspended one year of the sentence, which will be served on probation. Jennifer will be eligible to petition the court for a modified sentence after three years.