The Indiana mother wanted in connection to the death of her adopted son earlier this year was arrested in Michigan last Saturday night.
The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan confirmed that 48-year-old Jennifer Lee Wilson was taken into custody on July 13 after her vehicle was spotted in New Buffalo Township.
An arrest warrant was issued for Wilson on July 8 by the Porter County Sheriff’s Office in northwest Indiana in connection to the April 25 death of her 10-year-old son Dakota Levi Stevens, a former foster child Wilson and her husband later adopted.
According to the arrest affidavit, officers in Valparaiso were called to a residence after receiving a report about a 10-year-old who was not breathing. The boy had bruising on his neck and chest and was rushed to a nearby hospital after attempts to resuscitate him failed.
Dakota was later airlifted to South Bend Memorial Hospital after a CT scan of his brain showed severe swelling.
Wilson told responding officers that the boy was her son and she tracked him down at the residence after he ran away from home.
Wilson claimed that she was trying to take the boy back to her house when he started “acting up.” She said he threw himself on the ground and she laid across his midsection to restrain him while she called his caseworker. During that time, the boy stopped moving but Wilson told officers that she thought he was faking it.
According to the neighbor, Dakota came to her house about a half hour earlier asking her to adopt him because his parents abused him and would not let him contact his caseworker. However, the neighbor said she saw no injuries on the boy.
Doorbell camera footage from the neighbor’s home showed the overweight Wilson lying across the boy’s neck and chest while he continued screaming.
South Bend Memorial contacted the sheriff’s office two days after the incident to report that the child had died. An autopsy later determined that Dakota had suffered soft tissue and organ damage, including hemorrhaging in the liver and lungs. The cause of death was listed as mechanical asphyxia and the manner of death was homicide.
Wilson was charged with reckless homicide.
