A 340-pound Indiana woman was charged with reckless homicide this week after she allegedly suffocated her 10-year-old foster son when she sat on him for several minutes, according to police.
Jennifer Lee Wilson, 48, allegedly killed youngster Dakota Levi Stevens in April after he attempted to escape to a neighbor’s house, according to court documents.
Wilson is accused of sitting on the boy outside her home in what she said was a bid to stop him from “acting up,” the docs state.
The obese parent tried calling his caseworker as the little boy, who only weighed 90 pounds screamed, but he eventually stopped moving, a probable cause affidavit states, according to the Indianapolis Star.
A doorbell camera showed footage of Wilson laying on top of the boy — even when he stopped moving, according to the affidavit.
At one point, she asked if he was faking, but saw his eyelids were pale, the court documents state, per NBC Chicago.
When cops arrived, Dakota was no longer breathing and didn’t have a pulse. Wilson appeared “visibly distraught” as emergency responders tried to save the boy.
“I was laying on him and he was acting bad,” Wilson reportedly told another child she was watching who called 911, according to Fox 8.
Dakota was airlifted to a hospital in South Bend where he was pronounced dead two days later, the Star reported.
His death was ruled a homicide as a result of mechanical asphyxia, according to the local coroner’s office.
The foster mom was reportedly on top of him for around five minutes.
Before the fatal encounter, Dakota went to a neighbor’s house and pleaded with her to adopt him because he said his parents hit him in the face, but the neighbor said she didn’t see any visible injuries on the boy, according to NBC Chicago.
Wilson was arrested on Saturday. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of reckless homicide.
Her foster care license was previously revoked and she is no longer taking care of children.