10-year-old Porter County foster child’s death ruled a homicide

PORTER COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - Officials say a northwest Indiana boy who died in foster care back in April died of homicide.

The St. Joseph County Coroner’s Office says 10-year-old Dakota Stevens died from mechanical asphyxia, a kind of asphyxiation in which an object or physical force stops a person from breathing.

According to the IndyStar, Dakota was in the care of a foster parent on the afternoon of April 25 when first responders were called to a house in the 200 block of Falcon Way in Valparaiso for a “medical emergency.”

Dakota was taken to Porter Memorial Hospital before he was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. The boy’s aunt, Ana Parrish, says he was taken off life support two days later.

No one has been arrested or charged in Dakota’s death at this time.

The IndyStar says Dakota’s death has left questions among family members who said they have tried unsuccessfully for several years to gain custody of him.

In a previous statement, the Indiana Department of Child Services said: “Our entire staff is heartbroken by this news. DCS works with stakeholders and partners across the state to investigate the death of a child any time there is suspected abuse or neglect and will take the appropriate action.”