An Indiana woman is facing charges of reckless homicide following the tragic death of her 10-year-old foster son.

Court documents obtained by WGN, NBC Chicago and CBS Chicago detail how 10-year-old Dakota Levi Stevens died on April 25 - just two days after 48-year-old Jennifer Lee Wilson was captured on a Ring doorbell cam using her body weight in an alleged attempt subdue the child.

"I was laying on him and he was acting bad," the 340-pound Wilson says in the video, which has been reviewed by police.

The incident took place outside of Wilson's home in Liberty Township, with the affidavit revealing that Wilson sat on the boy for over five minutes.

Young Dakota reportedly could be heard screaming before he stopped moving and fell silent. NBC Chicago reported that Wilson asked if Dakota was "faking", before she noticed that the child's eyelids had gone pale.

The boy weighed just 90 pounds. Police say a lot of Wilson's weight was directed to the child's head and neck, per WGN News.

Concerned for his well-being, Wilson asked one of her daughters to call 911.

When emergency services arrived at the scene, they found Dakota unconscious and without a pulse.

Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, and he was airlifted to a hospital in South Bend, where he was pronounced dead two days later.

The local coroner's office determined Dakota's cause of death to be mechanical asphyxia, ruling it a homicide.

It has also been reported that - just minutes before being restrained by Wilson - Dakota had approached a neighbor, pleading to be adopted.

CBS Chicago reports that the boy allegedly asked the neighbor to adopt him because his biological parents would hit him in the face, per the affidavit.

The neighbor, however, did not observe any visible injuries on Dakota when Wilson arrived to retrieve him.

Speaking WGN News, Dakota's former foster father, Hayden Hetzel, said that the boy did sometimes struggle to control his emotions, but that he was taught how to safely physically calm the child. "He was just a kid given a bad hand, but he made the best of every situation," Hetzel said.

Following Dakota's death, Wilson's foster care license was revoked, and she is no longer permitted to care for children.

She was arrested on July 13 in Berrien County, Michigan, after an arrest warrant was issued in Indiana.

Wilson remains in custody pending extradition, facing charges that could lead to up to six years in prison if convicted of reckless homicide.

Our thoughts go out to Dakota's loved ones following this horrendous tragedy.

Featured image credit: Geisen Funeral Homes

A vegan couple is on trial for murder after their 18-month-old son starved to death.

On Wednesday, three months after the toddler's death, Ryan O'Leary, 30, and his wife Sheila, 35, were indicted on first-degree murder charges. Originally charged with manslaughter, the couple is set to appear in court on December 23.

If convicted, they could be executed.

To discover more about the case, check out the report below: 

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Prosecutor Amira Fox accused the couple of "horrendous" abuse for feeding their child a diet of raw fruit and vegetables. A diet that resulted in the boy weighing just 17 pounds at the time of his death, as per the Metro.

To put this into context, a healthy seven-month-old baby should weigh 17 pounds - not an 18-month-old toddler.

Fox accused the O'Learys of torturing their son and their three surviving children, aged three, five and 11.

The toddler, whose name is not known, died from "starvation and extreme lack of care."

Sheila O'Leary revealed to investigators that the family has a raw vegan diet, but that the boy was breastfed, and in the week leading up to his death, had only consumed breast milk.

The day before the toddler died, he experienced shallow breathing while being nursed by his mother. According to reports, she admitted that she should have called for help, but instead fell asleep with her husband.

An autopsy after the September 27 death revealed that the child had perished as a result of malnutrition, including dehydration, microsteatosis of liver and swelling of hands, feet, and legs.

When Sheila discovered that her son wasn't breathing, she called 911. While waiting for assistance, her husband attempted to revive the child, but it was to no avail and he was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Two of the couple's surviving children, aged three and five, were discovered with signs of malnutrition, discoloured skin and blackened teeth, and they have since been taken into the care of social services.

The eldest daughter was in the best health. Investigators discovered that this was because Ryan O'Leary was her stepdad and she frequently made visits to her biological father in Virginia. He is now caring for her full-time.

The father of a grown man who was brutally killed in his bed by a seven-year-old boy for no reason, has revealed that they forgive the child.

On January 18, 2022, Brandon O'Quinn Rasberry, 32, was found dead in his RV in Texas, with a single gunshot wound to his head and minor graze wounds on his hands, according to the Gonzales County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators believed that Rasberry, who had only lived at the RV park for four days, had been dead for two days before he was discovered, after his employer phoned them to report him missing

Last week, a 10-year-old boy admitted to shooting Rasberry in cold blood as he slept,  sharing key details that were not known to the public in his confession.

The case had puzzled detectives for two years, after they'd scoured Rasberry's cell phone for clues and interviewed neighbors to try and find out why someone would have executed him while he slept.

However, their investigation did not throw up any leads until last week, when the 10-year-old child from Texas confessed to the killing.

The horrific crime had come to light after a local principal called to report the child's chilling confession as well as his threats to assault and kill another student.

"Based on this information the Deputy contacted the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division. Investigators determined based on the information the child told the school, the child may have knowledge about the murder of Brandon," the department said, via the New York Post.

Police said the boy, whose identity has not been revealed, "described in detail" things about the killing which had not been made public.

The child, who was just seven years old at the time of the murder, said he had been visiting his grandfather who lived in the same RV park at the time, and had spotted Rasberry walking around the lot.

The 10-year-old said he took a "dirt and army green" 9mm pistol from the glovebox of his grandfather's truck on the night of the killing, before creeping into Rasberry's RV, where the 32-year-old was sleeping.

Police stated: "The Child stated he observed Brandon sleeping in his bed and approached Brandon and discharged the firearm into Brandon striking him one time in the head.

"The child stated as he was leaving the RV he discharged the firearm another time into the couch inside the RV. The child then exited the RV and returned the firearm to the glovebox of the truck."

According to investigators, the child did not have a clear motive for killing Rasberry, and admitted he had never met the man or even knew his name.

Police added: "The child was also asked if he was mad at Brandon for some reason or if Brandon had ever done anything to him to make him mad, the child stated no."

Despite the horrific circumstances surrounding Rasberry's untimely death, his father, Kenneth Rasberry, has said he forgives the child for his heinous crime.

He said, per KSAT's reports: "I was shocked, very shocked. This isn’t anywhere the suspect that we thought it was."

The father added: "This is a little boy, for reasons that I’m sure these counselors and case managers and all of that, that’s going to pick that poor little boy’s brain apart.

"He needs to be prayed on. He needs to be comforted ... He’s forgiven. And he can still be saved. He’s so young. He’s definitely tormented by something."

Police were called on April 12 by a Nixon-Smiley Independent School District principal about a student who threatened to assault and kill another student on a bus, and had also made a statement about shooting and killing a man two years ago.

After being interviewed by police and revealing details that were not publicly known, police traced the suspected weapon to a pawn shop that the child's grandfather had sold it to, and matched it to the spent shell casings that were collected at the scene of the murder.

Despite his confession, the boy will not be charged with the crime, as according to Texas law, a child cannot be responsible for a crime until they are 10 years old.

The victim's brother, Jonathan Fojtik, told KENS5: "Finding out it was a seven-year-old that committed the murder, a senseless murder at that, it’s just tragic. It’s kind of hard to wrap your head around.

"I feel like the boy knew exactly what he was doing. Why wasn’t the child being supervised more?"

After the confession, the boy was placed on a 72-hour emergency detention before being taken to a psychiatric hospital in San Antonio, Texas for evaluation and treatment. The sheriff's office stated it was "because of the severity of the crime and because of the continued concern for the child’s mental wellbeing the child."

While he can not be charged with the murder, he has since been booked on charges of making terroristic threats for the incident involving his classmate and is being held in county jail.

Featured image credit: Christopher Hopefitch/Getty Images

Last week, a mother-of-seven received a sentence of 28 years behind bars for inflicting extreme torture on her five-year-old stepson.

Tammi Bleimeyer, a 37-year-old woman from Texas, was trialled last Friday more than four years since the abuse was discovered. Her stepson, Jordan Bleimeyer (now nine years of age), was reportedly close to death at the time he was rescued, and doctors reported that he weighed just 29 lbs, which is barely more than the average two-year-old.

As well as starving the boy, Bleimeyer forced him to wear a diaper and made him sleep in a tiny closet under the stairs. The "room" was not even fit for an animal, and had exposed nails and wiring in the walls and around the mattress that Jordan was made to sleep on.

The horrific crime was first brought to light when one of Bleimeyer's own children, just 16 at the time, reported her to authorities. The teen reported that his stepbrother was being abused by his mother and 24-year-old stepfather (Jordan's father), Bradley Bleimeyer.

When Tammi Bleimeyer learned that her son had gone to the police, she took Jordan out of the house and refused to return when contacted by police. Fortunately, law enforcement were able to track her down using cell phone records, and found her at a nearby motel. She was six months pregnant at the time.

Jordan was rushed to hospital as soon as he was discovered, and was found to be severely malnourished and covered in cuts and bruises from his parents' abuse.

Both Tammi and Bradley Bleimeyer were arrested, with Bradley receiving a 15-year sentence in 2016.

In court, it was revealed that Jordan had not even been allowed to eat dinner with his siblings. Instead, he was given just one slice of bread to eat per day, and it was taken away from him if he didn't eat it quickly enough. This left him so severely starved that he was compared to a holocaust victim.

It was also alleged that Jordan's father would drug him when other people would come round to visit, and Bleimeyer's 16-year-old son said that Jordan had been tasered and had his head slammed against the wall on at least one occasion.

It came as a bittersweet relief, then, when Bleimeyer was finally sent down last week following testimonies against her from her own children.

"It's no mystery why we're all here," one of her sons said in a prepared statement. "You made a big mistake, and ultimately have to face the consequences. I'm up here to ask a rhetorical question of how, how could you put your children through all that? The people who should be your pride and joy. You caused me feelings of sadness, anger, confusion, and emptiness. I can't say that I'll ever be the same emotionally because of this."

Jordan has since been reunited with his biological mother, and Bleimeyer's other children were taken into CPS care.

An Indiana foster mom who killed her 10-year-old foster son by lying on top of him has been sentenced to six years in prison—one of which will be served on probation.

Jennifer Lee Wilson, 48, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of Dakota Levi Stevens. The boy died two days after the April 2024 incident that left him crushed under Wilson’s 340-pound frame, per People.

According to court records, Wilson used her body weight to punish the child after he “acted bad.”

Wilson was arrested on July 13 in Berrien County, Michigan. At the time of his death, Dakota had bruises on his neck and chest, as noted in a probable cause affidavit cited by WGN and other outlets.

Wilson told police she lay on Dakota for about five minutes. The boy, who weighed just 91 pounds, eventually stopped moving.

Ring camera footage reviewed by investigators showed Wilson lying on the child’s head and neck while he screamed. In the video, Wilson could be heard saying, “I was laying on him and he was acting bad.”

Only half an hour before emergency responders arrived, Dakota had run to a neighbor’s house and asked her to adopt him, saying his parents hit him in the face, according to the affidavit.

Wilson later retrieved Dakota from the neighbor’s home. She told police he continued acting out and threatened to run away again. As she tried to prevent him from leaving, Wilson said she wasn’t sure if she tackled him or if they fell, but her goal was to “hold him,” Fox5Atlanta reported.

Wilson said she asked Dakota if he was ready to get up. When he didn’t respond, she rolled him over and noticed his eyelids were pale. That’s when she started CPR and called 911.

Emergency crews were unable to revive him, and Dakota died at the hospital two days later.

His cause of death was ruled mechanical asphyxia. The medical examiner listed the manner of death as homicide.

Wilson pleaded guilty in October.

According to The Indianapolis Star, the Department of Child Services had placed Dakota with Wilson just a month before his death. Other foster children were living in her home at the time. They have since been removed.

Dakota was remembered in his obituary as a child who “loved the outdoors” and “marched to the beat of his own drum.”

Featured image credit: Barrien County Sheriff's Department