Court documents have recently been made public regarding the apprehension of Jennifer Lee Wilson, a 49-year-old resident of Valparaiso. Her arrest came after the unfortunate passing of 10-year-old Dakota Stevens on April 27th.
At approximately 3:37 p.m. on April 25th, authorities were alerted to an unconscious 10-year-old boy who was not breathing at a residence on Falcon Way in Valparaiso. Upon their arrival, officers discovered the boy, who was later identified as Stevens, laying on the ground near the driveway. Another individual was performing CPR on him at the time.
Upon arrival, the officer who responded to the scene reported observing visible bruising on Stevens’ lower neck and chest area. The responding team quickly administered chest compressions until medical personnel arrived on-site. The first responders discovered that Stevens was unconscious, not breathing, and had no pulse. He was immediately transported to Northwest Health Porter for further treatment.
Sadly, he passed away only two days after being taken off life support.
At the scene, Wilson informed the police that Stevens was her son who had recently fled from home. She discovered him at a neighbor’s house and then brought him back to their residence.
According to Wilson, when they returned, Stevens was still misbehaving and threw himself onto the ground.
As she recounted the incident, Wilson shared that she had laid on his midsection and reached out to Stevens’ caseworker. As the call progressed, Stevens suddenly stopped moving, causing Wilson to initially believe that he was pretending to get her off of him.
According to the police report, Wilson stated that she had been lying on him for approximately five minutes.
According to the neighbor who took in Stevens, he had arrived at their house half an hour before the emergency vehicles arrived. The boy had run to their house seeking refuge, claiming that his parents had physically assaulted him and prevented him from contacting his caseworker. He had even asked the neighbor to adopt him.
While gathering evidence, another officer headed to Northwest Porter Health where he witnessed Stevens receiving emergency treatment. The attending doctor informed the officer that Stevens had suffered severe brain swelling as indicated by a CT scan. The doctor further revealed that Stevens would be flown to a children’s hospital in South Bend for further treatment.
According to the documents, the doctor noted that the brain swelling seemed to be in line with a prolonged period of oxygen deprivation.
Wilson and her husband are proud parents of three children who were initially foster kids but were later adopted into their family. Additionally, they have other children in the household, making their family a loving and caring one.
Lake County Child Protective Services placed Stevens in her home on April 5.
