Police in Berrien County, Michigan, used license plate readers Saturday night to find and arrest the Liberty Township woman charged with reckless homicide in her foster son’s death, according to a release.
Porter County officials issued a warrant for the arrest of Jennifer Lee Wilson, 48, of the 200 block of Falcon Way, after she was charged on Friday with the Level 5 felony in the death of Dakota Levi Stevens, 10, in late April.
According to a release from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department in St. Joseph, police arrested Wilson at 8:18 p.m. on Saturday in New Buffalo, on North Thomson Street near East Buffalo Street.
Police credited the license plate readers and shared information between law enforcement agencies for the arrest, Lt. Ryan Sullivan said in the release.
“Timely apprehension of wanted individuals provides timely justice to the victims of crime,” he said. “Furthermore, the efficient transfer of information between law enforcement agencies enhances the safety of the men and women in law enforcement.”
Other Michigan agencies assisting in Wilson’s arrest include the Pokagon Tribal Police Department and the New Buffalo Police Department.
The Porter County Sheriff’s Department did not have further information on Wilson’s arrest or when she might extradited here.
Dakota died on April 27 at South Bend Memorial Hospital from mechanical asphyxiation, according to the St. Joseph County Coroner’s Office, which ruled his death a homicide.
He died two days after, according to court documents, Wilson “laid on his midsection” for several minutes outside of her home because Dakota was “acting up.” She contacted the boy’s caseworker and her husband while she laid on the child until he stopped breathing, the documents said.
Wilson, according to charging documents filed in Porter Superior Court, weighed 340 pounds, and Dakota weighed 91 pounds.
Dakota was placed in Wilson’s care on April 5 by Lake County Child Protective Services, according to court documents.
After the St. Joseph County Coroner’s Office ruled Dakota’s death a homicide in early June, Wilson’s foster care license was placed on hold while the license was pending revocation and pending any appeal from Wilson, according to a Friday email from Brian Heinemann, a spokesman with the Indiana Department of Child Services.
“The appeal process has expired, and the license was revoked June 30, 2024,” he said in the email, declining further comment because of the active criminal case and the confidential nature of DCS records.
Officials with the office have said that Wilson had been licensed since 2017 and was in good standing before Dakota’s death.
Wilson’s bond has been set at $20,000, according to online court records, and her case has been assigned to Porter Superior Court Judge Mary DeBoer.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
