The Liberty Township woman who, according to charging documents, sat on her foster son until he stopped breathing while conducting video calls with her husband and the boy’s caseworker submitted a guilty plea Tuesday to reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony.
Jennifer Lee Wilson, 49, was charged in the death of Dakota “Levi” Stevens, 10, who died in late April at a South Bend hospital. She submitted the plea to Judge Pro Tem Nicholas Catsadimas; the court took Wilson’s plea under advisement. She is scheduled for a sentencing hearing at 9 a.m. on Jan. 17. She had been scheduled to go to trial on March 3.
At a previous court hearing, Porter Superior Court Judge Mary DeBoer let stand a no-contact order issued for Wilson involving two of the three adopted children living in her home. A third adopted child was not included in the order but Wilson’s husband, Robert Wilson, said during the hearing that the family had separated that child from Wilson as well because “We don’t want to jeopardize or break any rules.”
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.
Wilson, according to charging documents, told police that Dakota ran away after an argument about him doing chores before he went outside to play.
Shortly before Wilson found Dakota, he asked a neighbor to adopt him “because his parents hit him in the face and didn’t let him call his caseworker,” according to the charging documents. The neighbor said she didn’t see any signs of injury.
A dedicated group of the boy’s biological and former foster family members and their supporters have rallied to draw attention to what happened to Levi, camping out at U.S. 6 and Indiana 149 in Portage Township with signs calling for justice in the case, and showing up outside the courthouse in downtown Valparaiso in orange shirts when Wilson has a hearing inside.
On July 27, as they gathered at the Portage Township intersection with signs and T-shirts memorializing Dakota, family members said they hoped for additional charges or more serious ones against Wilson.
Reckless homicide has a sentencing range of one to six years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
Family members have said Dakota and a younger sister were removed from their biological parents’ home because of their reported drug use. Their father died and their mother eventually relinquished parental rights. His sister was later adopted.
Family members tried to retain custody of him, they said, but he was placed in foster care. In the years before his death, Dakota bounced between his relatives’ homes and foster care, as well as mental health facilities.
During a private funeral on May 6 at Giesen Funeral Home in Crown Point, family members and loved ones talked about a creative, bright boy who loved bugs and frogs and Legos, whose smile was incomparable and who was likely to teach any adult he interacted with more than they could ever teach him.
Officials with the Indiana Department of Child Services have said Wilson’s foster care license was placed on hold after Dakota’s death was ruled a homicide. Her license, first issued in 2017 and in good standing before Dakota’s death, was revoked on June 30, department officials have said.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
