A woman in Indiana, USA, has been sent to prison for six years for accidentally killing her 10-year-old foster child by sitting on him. This happened in April last year when the woman, Jennifer Lee Wilson, who is 48 years old, sat on the boy, Dakota Levi Stevens, for five minutes. She said she did this because he was misbehaving.

Later, Wilson admitted in court that she was responsible for Dakota's death. She pleaded guilty to a crime called reckless homicide in October, which means her actions caused someone’s death without her intending to kill.

Details of the incident

According to court documents, Wilson told police that Dakota had thrown himself on the ground at her house. She said she “laid on his midsection and called his caseworker” while attempting to calm him down. Wilson stated that she sat on him for five minutes before realising he had stopped moving. She assumed he was pretending.

The child’s height was reported as 4 feet 10 inches, with a weight of 40 kg, while Wilson, who weighed over 154 kg, was only one inch taller than him.

When police arrived at Jennifer Wilson's house in Valparaiso, Indiana, they found Dakota unresponsive, with bruises on his neck and chest. He was immediately taken to a hospital in South Bend for treatment, but sadly, he passed away two days later due to his injuries.

Doctors found that Dakota’s death was caused by suffocation from physical force, which they called "mechanical asphyxia."

Before this tragic event, court documents showed that Dakota had asked a neighbour to adopt him. He told the neighbour he was being mistreated by his foster parents. The neighbour also said Dakota had been hit in the face and wasn’t allowed to call his caseworker for help.

Court ruling

Judge Michael Bergerson gave Jennifer Wilson a six-year sentence in prison for what she did. However, she will only spend five years in prison, and for the last year, she will be allowed to stay at home under supervision, a condition known as probation.

This sad event has made people worried about how safe foster children are in situations like this. Dakota's story is a sad reminder that we need to do more to protect children who are vulnerable and in need of care.