Episode 194: Dakota Levi Stevens (Part 2)

Summary

Suffer the Little Children, Episode 194 – Dakota Levi Stevens (Part 2)

Podcast Date: April 30, 2025
Host: Lane
Guests: Melissa Mailer (Levi’s maternal grandmother), Anna Parrish (Levi’s aunt), Alex Parrish (Levi’s uncle)

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Episode Overview

This episode is the emotional second part of Dakota Levi Stevens’ story, focusing on the fight his maternal family endured to keep him safe, their shock and sorrow at his death in foster care at the hands of trusted family friend Jennifer Wilson, and their ongoing efforts to seek justice and create positive change for children in the system. The conversation with Levi’s grandmother, aunt, and uncle offers a personal, heart-wrenching account of Levi’s life, the systemic failures they witnessed, and the lasting impact on their family.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. How DCS Became Involved ([03:59])

• Drug use and immediate intervention: Levi’s mother struggled with addiction, and Melissa took action as soon as she learned about it, placing Levi and his sibling with her and getting Levi’s mother into rehab the same day.
• Conflict with Levi’s father: Cody (Levi’s father) was angry about the rehab admission and threatened to report the children as kidnapped.
• Proactive approach: The family contacted DCFS (Department of Child and Family Services), hoping transparency would protect them from accusations.

2. Last Contact with Levi ([05:01])

• Family gathering in September 2021: The last time the family saw Levi was at his great-grandmother’s birthday, arranged discreetly by his then-foster parents (relatives who weren’t supposed to enable family contact).
• Barriers to communication: The family had no direct contact with Levi after this event.

3. Limited Updates and Lack of Direct Access ([05:47], [06:37])

• Jennifer Wilson’s role: Jennifer, a family friend and eventual foster parent, was initially their only link to Levi, providing occasional updates and photos but never allowing direct communication.
• Expectation of trust: The family was relieved when Levi was placed with Jennifer, believing him to be safer, only later learning the reality after his death.

4. Learning About Levi’s Death ([07:43])

• How the family was notified: A text from a former foster parent was their first indication that Levi had died; direct confirmation from Jennifer Wilson was never received.
• Jennifer’s evasiveness: “If it’s not true, why wouldn’t you say no? That’s not true. She never directly denied it, but she never directly confirmed it.” – Melissa Mailer [09:18]

5. Court Proceedings & Sentencing ([10:56])

• Testifying at sentencing: Multiple family members testified, including Melissa, her niece Marley, and others from the extended family.
• Unexpected maximum sentence: The judge gave Jennifer Wilson the maximum penalty, overruling the prosecutor’s expectations:
  “We were in shock that when he announced that. Elated that she was going to get the max.” – Melissa Mailer [11:59]
• Memorable moment with the judge:
  “The judge had asked [for a photo]. My sister-in-law... pulled his funeral card out of her bra and handed it to him. He propped it up and looked at it through the hearing.” – Melissa Mailer [13:19]

6. Systemic Failures and Judge Miller’s Bias ([13:40], [14:32])

• Perceived favoritism and conflict of interest: Jennifer’s career connections and past relationships with Judge Miller influenced Levi’s placement.
• Family sidelined: The adoption specialist acknowledged their love but then vanished after consulting with the judge.
• Past bias: Judge Miller had presided over Levi's parents’ juvenile cases, fueling mistrust and perceived hostility against the family.

7. Levi’s Parents & Family Life ([18:08], [19:44])

• Background: Gabby met Cody through Melissa’s introduction; both were loving parents before addiction took hold.
• Parental bond:
  “Levi was crazy about his dad, and his dad was crazy about him.” – Melissa Mailer [19:51]
• Pain of loss: Levi was not allowed to attend his father’s funeral, deepening his trauma.

8. Levi’s Personality and Interests ([20:50], [21:13], [22:01], [24:16])

• Extraordinary intelligence:
  “He had an IQ of like 118 or something... higher than most adults at 10 years old.” – Melissa Mailer [21:04]
• Curiosity: Levi used Google inquisitively, sorted phones, and was passionate about learning.
• Unique quirks: Loved Thomas the Tank Engine, was a picky but particular eater (only chicken nuggets).
• Compassion: He cared deeply for animals and nature (“Throw [the old Cheetos] outside for the birds, Grandma”).
• Sibling love:
  “He would not hit [his sister] back... That’s not nice.” – Melissa Mailer [24:16]

9. On Levi’s Suffering and Misdiagnosis ([26:07], [26:41], [36:20])

• Heartbreaking awareness:
  “He was aware of what was happening to him and he was pleading for his life and [Wilson] ignored his cries.” – Melissa Mailer [26:07]
• RAD and autism claims: The family believes reports of mental health issues were consequences of removal from family, with an “autism diagnosis” surfacing only at trial—likely as legal defense spin.

10. Systemic Obstacles and Unfair Removal ([27:46], [29:10], [31:34])

• Family's struggle to be heard: DCFS dismissed the family, despite their consistent involvement and support.
• Case management biases: Disagreement with foster care therapy recommendations led to increasing hostility from the system.
• Unjust outcomes:
  “One of the therapists said flat out, ‘if I have my way, they’ll never be with their family again’.” – Melissa Mailer [32:36]

11. Impact on Surviving Sister and Family ([33:54], [34:53])

• Lost connections: Levi’s sister was privately adopted and is kept away from the birth family, though reportedly loved and doing well.
• Lasting consequences: The tragedy shattered the family’s future and led to deep losses beyond Levi himself.

12. Failures of Mandatory Reporting and Community Accountability ([38:31], [39:51])

• Negligence of other adults: Jennifer Wilson’s daughter (a pediatric nurse), husband, and others failed to intervene while Levi was suffering.
• Pushing for “Levi’s Law”:
  “All of those adults would be held responsible... some type of legal repercussion because they were all aware... and did not intervene.” – Melissa Mailer [39:58]

13. Family’s Advocacy and Healing ([40:22], [41:01], [42:40])

• Multiple petitions: Seeking DCFS accountability, harsher charges, and removal of Jennifer Wilson’s husband from a principal role.
• Memorializing Levi: A headstone, a vigil at the courthouse, and plans to adopt highway sections in his honor.
• Community support:
  “We had almost 200 people... not just family... such an outpouring of love and support.” – Melissa Mailer [52:06]

14. Levi’s Signs and Lasting Influence ([50:21])

• Signs from Levi: The family recounts moments—seeing daisies, unusual butterflies at protest events, etc.—as signs of Levi’s enduring presence.
• Online remembrance: The “Honoring Dakota Levi Stevens” Facebook group keeps his memory alive and provides community.

15. The Importance of Truthful Storytelling ([47:35], [48:32])

• Gratitude to Lane:
  “Thank you for caring about the truth and the integrity of the story... there’s been many TikToks and podcasts... not one has ever reached out to us.” – Melissa Mailer [47:35]
• Frustration with misinformation: Family members express anger about inaccurate media, misinformation, and the re-traumatization that comes from seeing their story told without their input.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “If it’s not true, why wouldn’t you say no? That’s not true. She never directly denied it, but she never directly confirmed it.” – Melissa Mailer [09:18]
• “We were in shock that when he announced that [sentence]. Elated that she was going to get the max.” – Melissa Mailer [11:59]
• “He would not hit [his sister] back... That’s not nice.” – Melissa Mailer [24:16]
• “He was aware of what was happening to him and he was pleading for his life and [Wilson] ignored his cries.” – Melissa Mailer [26:07]
• “One of the therapists said flat out, ‘if I have my way, they’ll never be with their family again’.” – Melissa Mailer [32:36]
• “Thank you for caring about the truth and the integrity of the story... not one has ever reached out to us.” – Melissa Mailer [47:35]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:59] — How DCS got involved, family’s intervention
• [05:01] — Last time the family saw Levi
• [07:43] — The devastating moment of learning about Levi’s death
• [10:56] — Testifying at sentencing, reactions to the verdict
• [13:40] — Systemic failures and biased judicial conduct
• [18:08], [19:44] — Levi’s parents: their story and struggle
• [21:04], [24:16] — Levi’s intelligence, interests, and loving relationships
• [26:07] — The trauma of Levi’s final moments
• [29:10], [31:34] — Systemic bias, removal from family, and effects
• [34:53] — Levi’s surviving sister’s fate
• [39:51] — “Levi’s Law” and the accountability movement
• [41:01] — Headstone and memorial initiatives
• [42:40] — Candlelight vigil and advocacy
• [47:35], [48:32] — Gratitude for telling the family’s true story
• [50:21] — Signs from Levi, ongoing hope, and remembrance

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Tone and Closing

Sharing their laughter and tears, the family’s voices are full of love, heartbreak, and dogged determination to transform pain into change. The tone is direct and sometimes raw but always infused with the hope that Levi, the smart, compassionate, bug-loving little boy who wanted to help the world, will not have suffered in vain.

“Despite him being gone there, he still brings love. He still brings people together… You just—You never know.” – Melissa Mailer [55:05]

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Further Action

• Sign the Petitions: Links provided in the show notes (details not shared during the pod).
• Join “Honoring Dakota Levi Stevens” Facebook Group: For ongoing updates and memorials.
• Support Levi’s Law: Add your voice to the campaign for stronger accountability in child protection and mandatory reporting.

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This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand the real human consequences of systemic failures in child welfare, and the enduring power of family to fight for truth and accountability.

Transcript

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[Melissa Mailer]

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[Lane]

This podcast contains descriptions of violence against children in adult language and is not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Hi everyone and welcome to Suffer the Little Children, the podcast giving voices back to the victims of child abuse, murder and their families. I'm your host Lane and this is episode 194. Dakota Levi Stevens Part 2 in the Last episode I told you the story of 10 year old Dakota Levi Stevens, a smart, creative, charming kid who was dealt a bad hand in life and died at the hands of a foster mother and longtime family friend. Jennifer Wilson is now serving a regrettably short sentence in the Indiana prison system for crushing 91 pound Levi to death with her 341 pound body weight. In this episode, you'll hear my conversation with three of the people who loved Levi the most. Grandma Melissa Mailer, Aunt Anna Parrish, and Uncle Alex Parrish. Levi's maternal family members told me about their family's constant attempts to rescue Levi from the foster care system, their heartache at Levi's bright light being snuffed out by someone they thought they could trust, and their efforts to make changes to help other kids like Levi. This is part two of the heart wrenching story of Dakota Levi Stevens. Quickly, I just wanted to mention that I've been holding live chats during my episode premieres, so keep an eye on my Facebook for details on the next one for patrons at level three and up, I'm also live chatting during early access episode drops on Patreon, so watch out for Those [e-mail] stlcpod now here's my conversation with Melissa Mailer, Ana Parish, and Alex Parish. Do you know what caused DCS to get involved?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, so there was drug use between my sister and her boyfriend, the kids dad, Cody. How it started is we were made aware of her addiction. I got her into rehab that very same day that we found out. And the kids were staying with us, you know, just until we kind of figured out what was going on with their mom, what she was gonna do with the program, everything like that. And in the meantime, the kids dad Cody was really upset that we had taken her to rehab. He was upset that the secret was out. He was against us having the children. He had told me that he was gonna call and report them kidnapped. Cause I told him I wasn't bringing them home to him. I found out what was going on over there. I wasn't gonna bring the kids back over there. So he told me he was going to call the police and report the kids as kidnapped. And so I had made my adopted father aware of that. And he said let's just kind of get ahead of it and let's just call DCFS and let them know what's going on. And then from there, that's kind of how they got involved.

[Lane]

When was the last time any of you saw Levi in person?

[Melissa Mailer]

September of 2021. September of 2021. Now, like a little CJ's birthday. Yeah, he had come for A family event. The foster parents that he was staying with at the time were actually our aunt and uncle, Levi's great aunt and uncle. And they really were not supposed to take him around family, but they wanted him to be part of that. It was my grandma's birthday party. They wanted him to be available and to see people and to celebrate his great grandma, my Grandma's birthday. So September 2021 was the last time we saw him.

[Lane]

I know this is going to be a tough one, but if you guys are able, I really wanted to kind of fill in some information about how you all that this was even going on in regards to Levi being in the hospital injured.

[Melissa Mailer]

We never really had direct confirmation. We had, like, friends, honestly. Jennifer Wilson was one of the contacts that we had with ndcfs. Like I had mentioned to you before, she was a family friend and it was kind of just a huge coincidence that Levi was placed with her. So she was kind of letting us know, you know, little tidbits of information. This is what's going on with them. This is where he's at. She was willing to share as much as she could. So we would just get little tidbits of information about him every now and then. Some pictures, some pictures, things like that. We really never had direct confirmation or proof that this is what was going on. We just kind of went on word of mouth, what people told us about him. Yeah, that and like, no direct contact with Levi himself. It was just through Jennifer Wilson.

[Lane]

So she didn't let him speak with any of you or FaceTime or any of that?

[Melissa Mailer]

No, no, no. And even before he was placed in her care, she was aware his relation to us, that we wanted him back, but we were curious about what was going on with him. We were concerned about him. So even before he was placed in her care, she would kind of share little tidbits of information as she found them out.

[Lane]

Oh, okay. So she was kind of just the inside person at the time.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah.

[Lane]

Then out of nowhere, she had him placed in her home. She said something about she hadn't planned to take in any more foster kids, but I guess it was because she knew the family that she agreed to it.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, that's what she had stated. Yeah, I've heard that. Yeah.

[Lane]

It seems like this is definitely someone you guys should have been able to trust.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, absolutely. That's what we thought too. And we were initially really excited when he was placed with her because we thought, you know, if he can't be with us, at least he can be with somebody that we know, we know we'd get pictures of him. Yeah. Know how he's doing. We know we'd get little updates about him. So. And that was a huge change from the, the darkness and the nothing we were getting about him for so long. So initially we were really exc. When he was placed with her.

[Lane]

And then you didn't find out until after he had passed that that had even happened.

[Melissa Mailer]

Correct. So we found out. We got a text message from actually Hayden Hetzel, one of the former foster parents, saying that through his contacts with DCFS that he had heard there was an accident and that Levi, they call him Dakota, he didn't make it. So he had forwarded that message to my mom and we wanted to find out if that was true. We're like, what? What the hell's going on? He said that he. An accident had happened and he wasn' wasn't sure if it was true or not because where he got it from, he was said it wasn't so reliable.

[Lane]

Yeah.

[Melissa Mailer]

So again, he was curious did we know anything about it. So it was again more word of mouth. Somebody told somebody something who told us something. And so once we kind of got that message and we got an inkling that something was going on with him. What day of the week was that, Mom? It was on like Friday or something. We didn't find out till Sunday. Sunday? Yeah, it was a Sunday. Give us an answer. Where's answer? Yeah. So like my mom said, on Friday, the Friday before he actually passed is when we first initially were kind of alerted that something was going on, something had happened to him. And we re. I reached out to my adopted mother who was good friends with Jennifer Wilson, and I said, hey, this is the text message we got. Can you please reach out to Jennifer Wilson and find out what is going on? It's true. What's going on? We didn't ever get confirmation from Jennifer Wilson directly. They were trying to get ahold of Jennifer and she wasn't answering any phone calls. So my sister in law, Eva, another one of Levi's aunts, had blocked the number and put it on a three way to call Jennifer Wilson. So it was Eva, my adopted mother, and Jennifer Wilson on a three way call. They called her a private number and they finally got her to answer and they were asking her questions and she never directly confirmed or denied anything, but just the way that she was acting in the call, she just acted very suspicious. We knew that something wasn't right. If it's not true, why wouldn't you say no? That's not true. She never directly denied it, but she never directly confirmed it.

[Lane]

So she was in CYA mode and didn't want to say anything.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes. And it later came out in court that she was advised not to talk to anybody about it. From the police is what, what she testified to.

[Lane]

I guess that would make sense, but at the same time, as a family friend, you'd think that would be the first thing.

[Melissa Mailer]

And this is family friends for generations. Jennifer Wilson's friend father was the best man in my adopted dad's wedding. I mean they. Back in like 80s something. Yeah, back in like the 80s, we as a child, I had met Jennifer Wilson's parents and spent time at their house. I. Oh yeah, totally. Like we went to her little brother's like high school graduation party and I had actually when I was younger, spent the night at Jennifer Wilson's house for one of her daughter's birthday parties. So this is a friendship that's gone back for generations. So. Yeah, you would, you would think out of respect for the family, out of being our friend, that you would want the most honesty. Yeah. You would tell us what was going on. But again, she was covering her own butt.

[Lane]

Yeah, no doubt. It's strange to me, there's no mention that she was a family friend in any of the articles. They just kind of ignored that fact.

[Melissa Mailer]

She didn't relay that information because honestly she could get in trouble from DCFS for telling us information. She wasn't supposed to do that. She did that honestly as a favor to us. And I had, when I met with the prosecutor, I let the prosecutor know that and she did bring that up in court. That's something that I testified to.

[Lane]

Was it at the sentencing hearing?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, at the sentencing hearing.

[Lane]

And that's where you all had a chance to at least testify?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, the prosecutor opened it up to people that would be, you know, willing and able to hold it together to testify.

[Lane]

Who did testify or who were you able to hear?

[Melissa Mailer]

The people who testified. The witnesses were myself, Marley, my niece Marley. So Levi's cousin Marlee, my sister in law, Eva. Eva Parrish, my aunt Linda. So that would be Levi's great aunt Logan and my cousin Logan.

[Lane]

How long did that sentencing hearing go on? I'm just curious.

[Melissa Mailer]

Four hours. Four hours? Yeah.

[Lane]

Okay. I guess it could be worse, but as long as she got the maximum, which I love the judge.

[Melissa Mailer]

Oh, yes, we were floored. I mean, we were flat out told by the prosecutor that that's not going to happen. She's not going to get the maximum. It's just not legally plausible for them to sentence a first time offender with no criminal record to the maximum. So we were really just in shock that when he announced that. Elated that she was going to get the max.

[Lane]

Yeah. And then you all managed to keep it under wraps, your feelings about it. But her side didn't exactly.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Her daughter got kicked out of the courtroom. Yeah. We were told by prosecutor Ryan that we have to be cordial and we have to maintain like a professionalism. She said, you know, keep your head high and your shoulders back. That we're in there not to pause the scene. We're in there to advocate for Levi. So that's what, that's what we did. We were able to reach out though, afterwards. After. Yeah, after she was sentenced and after she was taken out, then we were able to just let loose and clap and celebrate. Scream. Yeah. Good.

[Lane]

I'm sure you needed that.

[Melissa Mailer]

We got to watch you walk across the courtroom in handcuffs. Yeah.

[Lane]

Oh, beautiful. I'm really glad that the judge really was on Levi's side, not hers.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely. Like I had told you, he, he had asked the witnesses and we didn't know that we were. Because we were told before court we're not allowed to wear our Levi shirts. We're not allowed to wear our pins or anything with his image. We cannot advertise or advocate for what we were. Therefore. Well, we, you know, we, we had to make sure that we were neutral in the whole thing. So we were told that don't bring any images. And the judge had asked for one. And my sister in law. There's no one to witness it. Yes, every single witness. And when it finally got to my sister in law, who was the third witness, he asked her and she pulled his funeral card out of her bra and she handed it to him.

[Lane]

She had him close to her heart.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Lane]

And that's the one that he propped up and looked at throughout the hearing.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes. And he. And honestly, he still has it. We. He hasn't given it back, which we're fine with. He can have it. You know that that's price to pay for what he did for us.

[Lane]

Absolutely. As opposed especially to Judge Miller. Yeah. A piece of work.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely. Definitely.

[Lane]

I wish I could say that's the only time I've ever heard a family court judge do things like this to a family, but it is not. Something has to change. I don't know what it is. Is Jennifer a very good manipulator that you know of or why was it so on her side.

[Melissa Mailer]

You know, I think, and this is just my thoughts, I don't know, but I think it's because the field of work that she was in, so she had a lot of friends and a lot of work colleagues who worked for DCFS who were judges. Her and Judge Miller supposedly had a great relationship is what she told our family. That's how Judge Miller agreed to place Levi in her care is because of the relationship that they had. So I think it's really just the position she was in with her job and the contact she made by doing that.

[Lane]

Okay. And that was totally opposite to how he was treating Gabby and Kody.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely. Yes. And our whole family, and our whole family in general. He had definitely had a bias against our family. We had requested a new judge and we were denied.

[Lane]

Yeah, that happens too often as well. It really is obvious that Levi was surrounded by people who loved him. And then Judge Miller just refused to let him be with any of you.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes. And there was even a woman who was her job. She told us that she was an adoption specialist. Her job was to, like, locate and, you know, track down families that would be willing to adopt Levi. And she had reached out to myself, my mom, and my Aunt Linda asking about, you know, would we be willing to have Levi place with us? And all of us said, oh, absolutely, like, any time we're waiting for him, please. And she had asked for us to send pictures, email her pictures of Levi. She wanted to make a little memory book for him, a picture book for him to go through. And we all just got to work and we just emailed, emailed, emailed, and she had replied back that she has never had such a response from any family that she's ever worked with that it was very obvious to her that Levi was loved and well cared for and wanted. And after speaking with Judge Miller about, you know, her wanting to place Levi with us, we never heard back from her. So it's our assumption that Judge Miller shut that down.

[Lane]

I can't imagine why. The entire family just was blacklisted by him, but he. He certainly had a vendetta.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, yes. And like I had mentioned before, he was my sister and her boyfriend's juvenile judge. They had gotten into some trouble. They didn't know each other as teenagers, but they had gotten into some trouble as runaway charges. And Judge Miller happened to be their juvenile judge. So in our minds, he already had opinion of Gabby. Yes, he had already had a pre existing opinion about Gabby and our family from, you know, experiencing whatever she went through when she was a teenager in his court and that was a conflict of interest in our minds. And that's why we had asked for a new judge and were denied.

[Lane]

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[Lane]

So Gabby and Cody didn't know each other, they just happened to have the same juvenile judge.

[Melissa Mailer]

Correct. Because it's done by last name.

[Lane]

Okay.

[Melissa Mailer]

How their last name spelled. They were just placed in the same. Same judge.

[Lane]

And when did they meet?

[Melissa Mailer]

So they met like three years before. Levi was. Yeah, Levi was born in 2013. I'm going to guess about three years before that. They were already over 18 when they had met.

[Lane]

Okay. Was in high school.

[Melissa Mailer]

Gabby and our family, we went to Crown Point High School in Crown Point, Indiana. And Cody and his family's from out in the Gary area. And he went to Calumet High School in Gary.

[Lane]

Oh, okay. You were living in Crown Point for most of your lives?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, for most of our childhood, yes. And then, like, once we all kind of turned 18 and graduated and we're done with school, we kind of all went our separate ways. And I happened to come out this way, and Gabby was not far behind me. And Cody was the little brother of one of my friends. I introduced Gabby and Kody. I just thought they could be friends. Gabby was new to this area. She kind of just moved out here on her own, trying to branch out, and I thought she could use a friend. And that's how her and Cody met and all that got started. They didn't start using until My niece was two years old, so that would have been in 2017. They were great parents were born. They were great parents. And that's something that's not often talked about or mentioned, is that they were young, but they did love their children, and they. Cody, their dad, he worked every day and he worked hard. They had their own little home. They were really making a family. They were really making a life for themselves. Levi was saying, my daddy showed me this. My daddy told me how to do this. Levi was crazy about his dad, and his dad was crazy about him. A coworker of Cody is the one who introduced him to the drugs. And then from there, he introduced them to my sister, and it just went downhill.

[Lane]

I'm sorry about that. It's really a shame because they do sound like they were good parents and they're good people.

[Melissa Mailer]

They were. They were. And I've got photos, you know, to show. And Cody would stop at the gas station and give Levi potato wedges and cheese. And that was their little thing that they ate together. And Levi loved it. Cody and Levi were crazy about each other.

[Lane]

God, it must have been hard for Levi when his dad passed away then. But he was also going through all of this other stuff. It was just so much piled on him.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. He was actually staying with a family member of mine, my aunt Nicole Rubicava, when Cody passed away. So we did tell him. He was aware that it happened, but he started like. He started. Yeah, he was. He died from drugs. Yes. And then, you know, being the very smart little boy he was, he started Googling. He got on Google. Can you die from drugs? He was Googling my sister's name. He was. He was very affected by it. And. And then to not even be able to go to the funeral to say goodbye to.

[Lane]

They Wouldn't let him go to the funeral. Was that a dcfs?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, that was a DCFS thing.

[Lane]

Oh, that's awful. He sounds like such a special kid.

[Melissa Mailer]

He. He definitely was. Yeah. We're not just saying that because we're his family. He. He was wise beyond his years. He was a one in a million kid. Look, I think he had an IQ of like 118 or something.

[Lane]

That's crazy.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, like super high. Like higher than most adults at 10 years old. And it was only going to go higher from there. Love to learn. He knew everything about everything.

[Lane]

His investigations. I loved hearing about that.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, he. He's a Google. He was Google crazy. He would. Yeah, I love Google very quickly, you know. Well, let me see your phone. I want to look this up. Or let me search this on Google Images. I mean, he was. He had a passion for learning, and he put all my apps on the front of my phone one day. He thought, those are the ones you use. Yeah. He arranged my mom's for her and listened voice clips to my friends.

[Lane]

Oh, really?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. He knew all by their pictures. They would just touch the picture and send them 10 million voice clips, pretty much. When Levi was with you, you knew that. Give up your phone because he's. He's got some work to do. He wants to Google, he wants to text Nicole and.

[Lane]

Yeah, and that's when he wasn't outside digging for bugs.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lane]

I love that. Hearing that he told the bugs, uncle Levi's here, and it's just so cute.

[Melissa Mailer]

And that was something he came up with all on his own. He just. He had that caring, compassionate side to him. He truly cared about nature and animals, and that was one of his major interests. One time there were some old Cheetos on the table and I was gonna throw em away and he said, no, throw em outside for the birds, Grandma.

[Lane]

Oh, that's so cute. Was his favorite color orange?

[Melissa Mailer]

One of his favorite colors was orange. When he was with us, it was Thomas. Thomas the Tank Engine Blue. When we had customers, the of them. Yeah. But as he got older, we had heard that it was orange. Yeah, that was something he found on YouTube. Looking up Thomas the Train. Thomas the Train was his everything. If it wasn't Thomas, he wasn't having it. So he found that song on YouTube and it was like he liked Halloween too. He kind of liked the spooky stuff. One of our games we played is he was a puppy dog, and his puppy dog name was Spooky Dookie because he likes stuff. So he found that Halloween, that spooky Thomas song. And I mean, he listened to it over and over and he learned it in one day. Yeah. He heard the phone all around singing all the songs. To this day, it's still saved on my favorites on my YouTube channel, on my YouTube page, I bet.

[Lane]

How old was he? About three or four?

[Melissa Mailer]

Three. I'm gonna say three. It had little, like laughs in it and stuff. And he knew all the little things to say the whole song, like, ha, ha ha. He was a performer. He loved to sing and dance. Put on a show for you. Yeah.

[Lane]

He sounds like he had so many talents, he couldn't even stick with one. He had all of them.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. Multifaceted little guy for sure.

[Lane]

No doubt a renaissance man.

[Melissa Mailer]

Meet Nate.

[Lane]

I don't remember where I read it, but he wouldn't eat chicken tenders, only chicken nuggets.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. They had to be nuggets. They could not be tender. He was a picky eater. He was. And chicken nuggets, pizza, corn dogs and baked beans. That's all he told him he's gonna start getting feathers. Yeah.

[Lane]

Was he kind of a very particular person other than the food as well?

[Melissa Mailer]

Kind of, yeah. He liked things his way. His way? Yeah. Like when he got his Thomas the trains out, they had to be arranged in a certain order. And his sister was not allowed to touch, you know, don't mess with my trains. He had them arranged how he wanted them. He was particular on some things.

[Lane]

What were some of your favorite things about him?

[Melissa Mailer]

Oh, gosh, so many. One of my all time favorite things is just the love that he had for his sister. Yeah. She could be mean to him. She could bite him. She could kick them and stuff, tear up all his strains. And he would not hit her back. He would let her know he was upset, but he. That's not nice. Yeah.

[Lane]

Oh, that's so sweet.

[Melissa Mailer]

So he. He really was a little family man. He loved being with his family. He loved being with his sister. Those are some of the best times of my life is just hanging out with them, doing nothing on the porch. Yeah. Him running around, him saying he's gonna wander off. Yeah. He was good outside. He knew. He would come and tell us. Getting close to the road, getting close to the fence.

[Lane]

And so he was watching over everybody.

[Melissa Mailer]

Oh, yeah.

[Lane]

He just sounded like he was so.

[Melissa Mailer]

Mature wise beyond his ears. Yeah.

[Lane]

And what did he call each of you guys? I mean, he had a lot of grandparents and aunts and uncles.

[Melissa Mailer]

He called me Grandma Day Dae. We had a dog named Daisy that He was crazy about. So that was Grandma Day Dae from Daisy. He called the dog Day sometimes. I was Aunt Anna. He just called me like his Uncle Al.

[Lane]

Oh. So the dogs. I saw a few pictures of him napping on dogs on the couch. He looked very comfortable.

[Melissa Mailer]

Oh, he, he was big time about the animals, the dogs. He made sure they had food, they had water. He was taking him out. Definitely open the door for him when they had to go out. That was one of his jobs at my house. Opening the door for the dog, letting him out.

[Lane]

He definitely sounds like an incredibly special kid. And he had so many people and things in his heart, like he cared about everything.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, he did. He really did. Yeah. He was like, super aware of like, the world around him and his surroundings, who just like, smarter than he should have been for his age. But, like, in all the right ways.

[Lane]

You know, that's part of why it hits me so hard thinking about what happened to him, because he was well old enough to know what was going on.

[Melissa Mailer]

And that was, that's something that I put in my witness statement to Jennifer Wilson that, excuse me, because I'm going to cry talking about it. But he was aware of what was happening to him and he was pleading for his lights and he ignored his cries. He knew what was happening to him. And that, that just, that tears me up to think that he, he knew what was happening and he was suffering in his very last minutes.

[Lane]

Yeah, it's really unfathomable if you try to put yourself in that situation. But I'm glad he's at least out of the suffering because I know he couldn't have been a happy kid in the last few years and he wasn't allowed to be with his family.

[Melissa Mailer]

And because of that, he was diagnosed with RAD, which is reactive attachment disorder. And I, I 100% fully believe that any mental health issues that they claim that he had are a direct result of him being taken away from his family. Because he was fine whenever he was with us. He was just a spoiled little boy. He didn't have any mental health issues. Yeah, like he was ever super angry out of nowhere, never, like, did anything that hurt anyone. And the behavior issues from at school, I believe, are just a result of the frustrating schedule that, that he had. We had a very, very rigorous schedule. We're up by 6:30 in the morning, getting to school five days a week. They had visitation with their parents two days a week. They had therapy two days a week. I mean, literally we were fall into bed at night exhausted, because Then when we got home from visits or therapy, we still had to do homework, we had to do dinner, we had to do bath time. I mean, it was just a boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. It was a very, very tough schedule to keep, especially for a three and a five year old.

[Lane]

And then they want you to add more therapy sessions on top of that.

[Melissa Mailer]

And that's why I was so against it. You know, I didn't say it because I didn't want to help him get better. I said it because I thought that was the best choice for him. And then another thing is some foster parents, and this is no disrespect to any foster parents, there are some good ones out there. There are ones who truly do it for all the right reasons. But I tried to explain to our family case manager that I'm not a random person coming into their life. I am somebody who's been there with him since day one. I know how he is. I know his behaviors. He knows me, he knows my expectations. So I really wanted dcfs and I expressed to them to kind of just back off, let us handle it as a family unit. You know, if we were allowed to do what we wanted to do, I really believe, I truly believe in my heart, Levi and his sister would have gotten to where they needed to be. Behavior wise. It would have took some extra love. And we were willing to do that, but they wouldn't give us the space or the capacity to do it the way that we wanted to do it.

[Lane]

Yeah. The judge not trusting your whole family for whatever reasons are known only to him.

[Melissa Mailer]

And, and the therapist, they had two therapists that had a really key role in making sure that they never were returned to our family. And that, again, it's just my opinion, but I believe that that was a direct result because I told them that, no, I, I don't want them to have any more therapy with you. So once I dare to speak out against them and their opinions, then I became public enemy number one.

[Lane]

Yeah. And it just doesn't seem feasible that anyone could keep up a schedule like that.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes. And then another thing is, they had asked me about adopting the kids on May 9th. Okay. And then they were removed from my care on May 15th. And that meeting where they asked me to adopt the kids, I didn't say no. I didn't say yes. And I stated I didn't say yes. Because my main goal is I wanted them back with my sister. I wanted their family unit to be whole again. That was my main goal in all of this. And I told them that I would not want to take the children away from my sister. I want to give her the opportunity to get clean, to get herself together for their family to heal so that they can be together. And it's almost like once I told them that I was on team Gabby, Team my sister, then again I became public enemy number one. It's because I dared to disagree with their recommendations.

[Lane]

I'll pause here for another quick sponsor break. How to have fun anytime, anywhere.

[Melissa Mailer]

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[Melissa Mailer]

Void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.

[Lane]

Hey.

[Melissa Mailer]

How's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion won. 20 billion is an insane number. Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247365 wow. Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Lane]

It's insane. They'll take kids from the wrong families and leave them in the wrong families. It doesn't make any sense.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely. Lane. I work. I worked for a school district, the same one that Jennifer Wilson's husband works for. I worked for that school district for 14 years and I have seen some atrocious, horrible things. I have Seen children come in hungry and dirty and beaten, and somehow they stay with their family after. Despite the calls that we made, as well, employees, as concerned employees for these children, they remain with their family. And then you have somebody like myself who's literally doing everything they could, my family included, everything that we could to come together as a village and help these kids, and they just rip them from us. I mean, that was such a frustrating, infuriating thing to see and go through.

[Lane]

Yes, no doubt. It's. Yeah. You've had to have just been hitting your head off the wall because there's nothing you can do about it.

[Melissa Mailer]

Right. Well, we contacted an attorney, and despite even contacting an attorney, having an attorney go and speak for us and advocate for Levi and for our family, we were still just shot down every turn that we took. Yeah.

[Lane]

If they had their minds set against all of you.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely. Well, one of the therapists had flat out said that if I have my way, they will never be with their family again.

[Lane]

I can't imagine why that was, even being from the outside. I can tell you all loved him so much. And even just looking at all of the photos, and there's no doubt in my mind. So I don't know why they had such a problem with your family.

[Melissa Mailer]

And I think, again, this is just my opinion. I think because I had the audacity to disagree with them, that in combination with, like, Judge Miller, knowing Gabby and Kody Bolt when they were young, he already had, like, a bias against them.

[Lane]

Yeah. That's a shame, too, because if they were children at the time.

[Melissa Mailer]

Exactly. And he let decision that young while teenagers, you know, everybody makes mistakes. He let those decisions cloud his judgment for the rest of the case and ultimately cost Levi his life.

[Lane]

I hope he doesn't sleep well at night.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, that's one of our prayers among others.

[Lane]

Yeah, exactly. It's just they can do pretty much anything and they have full government immunity.

[Melissa Mailer]

And this goes on with his life while we're over here just at a loss, begging. Yeah. Our loved one is gone, and he just goes about his business like no big deal, Right? Yeah.

[Lane]

It isn't fair at all. Do you all get to see an S?

[Melissa Mailer]

No, we do not. No. It was a private adoption. I know. She did attend the funeral that the DCFS representatives held for Levi. They had their own separate funeral service for him. She did attend that one, but she did not attend our family one. Since she's been adopted, her adopted family has kept her, and understandably so, you know, just don't want her Exposed to all the ugliness of all this. But she's been kind of kept in the dark about all this too, I would say.

[Lane]

Yeah, I guess they are insulating her, but at some point she's going to learn. I mean, she's.

[Melissa Mailer]

She's nine. I mean, she's not little anymore. She. And she's just like her brother. She's very, very smart, highly intelligent. So.

[Lane]

Yeah. So Google's probably gonna be her friend.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. And we have heard through the grapevine, people knowing people, that she is very loved and she is very well taken care of. And she's happy. And she's happy. And so for that, we're happy, but we wish it was with us.

[Lane]

Exactly. I'm glad she's doing well, but. Yeah, she belongs home with you as well.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. Another thing that people fail to realize is that this whole situation has cost us my sister. She's never gonna be the same person she was again. She's in another state. We don't hardly see her. We don't see her. We don't have. Hardly have any contacts with her. So we've lost my sister, we've lost Levi. We've lost, in a set state, three major people, you know, the most important parts of our immediate family that are just gone to us for forever. So we had really high hopes that one day Levi. We knew Levi would come back to us. He remembered that we loved him. He knew it. So we were. It just shattered our future. That broke our hearts and it stole our futures. Yeah.

[Lane]

Yeah. And his and his sisters. I mean, she'll have her own, but it's not what it was going to be.

[Melissa Mailer]

Their brother and they. They loved each other and that was. Yeah. They were so, so close that I just. I can never get over. I can. I damn Judge Je. Jeffrey Miller to help for that. You split them up. The only constant that they had in each other's life, their only support source, the only familiar. And you split them up.

[Lane]

Did he give a reason for that?

[Melissa Mailer]

As far as I. To my knowledge, no. But again, we were not privy. We weren't privy to any of that information.

[Lane]

Yeah, I would. I would love to hear his reasoning for that, because I can't imagine why it would be better for them to be separated.

[Melissa Mailer]

Was adopted and Levi went to a hospital.

[Lane]

Right. I guess the autism diagnosis would have come later, obviously, since he didn't have any of those symptoms.

[Melissa Mailer]

We had never heard anything about him being autistic until the trial, the sentencing hearing for Jennifer Wilson. We don't know. I'VE never seen any concrete evidence. I've never seen any documentation. I've never seen any doctor paperwork on it. And you know that with the families he was staying with before, the Wilson family, they would have had to take them to the doctor and the psychologist, things like that. It was never mentioned or brought up until the sentencing hearing for Jennifer Wilson that he was autistic.

[Lane]

Yeah. That's convenient. Besides the fact that autism can have a lot of overlapping symptoms with rad, so it sounds like it was definitely made up to give her some kind of an excuse, although there's still no.

[Melissa Mailer]

Excuse and that that's what I think it was for, to kind of explain away why she did what she did, to try to give her some type of leverage. Leverage? Yeah. I've known people with autism and like, I've never seen that in Levi. I've never heard anyone describe that in him either. And he was seen, you know, in his hospital stays, his mental health facility stays. Don't you think a doctor would have done some type of a test or some type of evaluation would have determined that before he was in the Wilson's care? Because to be honest, he. He's been in the hospital several times from what we've been told and informed. So I, I just, I don't hold any credence to that diagnosis. I. Like you said, I think it was just kind of a made up, maybe pathway for her to try to explain away her action, trying some kind of sympathy.

[Lane]

It doesn't seem like it should be able to be admitted, but I guess the judge didn't really take that into consideration.

[Melissa Mailer]

No, I don't think that he paid it any mind. Maybe he did, but in my opinion, I don't think that he did. He saw right through Jennifer Wilson and her lies and her bull crap.

[Lane]

Good, good. Did she have one of those slimy defense lawyers who would say absolutely anything?

[Melissa Mailer]

She had two of them. She had two of them. And honestly, they did not call any witnesses or they didn't try to contest anything that we said. So we were initially told that she was going to have her husband, her daughter, and a few work colleagues as witness, you know, character witnesses for her side. But then we were informed right before court started that no, she doesn't have any witnesses on her behalf. Except her husband. Except her husband. I'm sorry. Except her husband.

[Lane]

Wow. Okay. And her daughters were both adults at the time?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, yes. And her oldest daughter is a pediatric ER nurse. And I looked up her nursing license online. She was at the home when the incident happened and did not offer any life saving assistance, any aid whatsoever. She didn't even come out of the house until the police made them come out.

[Lane]

And that's Samantha?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, that's Samantha Ponda. And her youngest daughter is Madison Wilson. And Madison is the one that was kicked out of court.

[Lane]

So Samantha, they didn't live there from what I understand. Right.

[Melissa Mailer]

The girls, I believe Madison lived there still, but Samantha did not. Her and her husband have their own separate residence. They just happened to be there. She was pregnant when Levi happened with Levi.

[Lane]

Okay. But she didn't even bother coming out. That is mind blowing.

[Melissa Mailer]

No. According to the court affidavit that we saw, and the neighbors and everything, her and her husband did not exit the house until they were instructed to do so by the Porter county police. You know, they heard him screaming. You know, the neighbors, the neighbors heard him screaming. So there's no way that the same residents that they didn't hear him screaming and she didn't come out to push her mom off. And for two, follow the oath she made as a nurse to make sure, you know that you offer that life saving assistance to anybody in need. She failed to do that and she failed to report the child abuse that was happening. Yeah.

[Lane]

So three mandatory reporters at that moment, her husband and the caseworker and her daughter, all of them.

[Melissa Mailer]

And the state of Indiana, if you're aware of that's what we're really trying to push with this Levi's law. It's one of the things that we're trying to do to honor his memory, is that in a situation like that, all of those adults would be held responsible. They would have some type of illegal repercussion because they were all aware of what was happening and they did not intervene.

[Lane]

That's excellent. So you have this law proposed, at what stage are you with it?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, we're very early in it. So right now what we're doing is, and we don't know if it'll hold any, any credence or if it'll make any difference, but we have a petition going around and I would just like to collect as many signatures on it as we can so that when we go to our state representative, we can say we're not the only ones that feel this way. We have X amount of American citizens who believe that this should be a law too. The petition is just really more as a backup, you know, something to support our cause and why, why it should be made into a law.

[Lane]

Right. That can't hurt public support for that Kind of thing should hopefully sway someone.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes, that's our hope.

[Lane]

So you guys also have a headstone on its way, or what's the.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah, it's in the process of being made right now. I had called on, I don't know, last week sometime just to kind of get an update on it, and I was told that it's made out of a black granite. And the black granite that we requested it be made out of is currently out of stock. So they're waiting for that to get in stock, and then they'll go through. And he said that they can get the carving and the etching done pretty quickly. So his cemetery, their company's best guess was it would be in around Memorial Day.

[Lane]

And it sounds like it's really going to suit him and the plans that you said.

[Melissa Mailer]

That's what we wanted it to be. Something. The whole idea that he would have designed and picked out himself. It's kind of pay tribute to all of the things that he loved, all of his favorites.

[Lane]

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, I think he would definitely approve of that. So you're having a vigil also on the 30th?

[Melissa Mailer]

Well, we're not. We are attending a vigil at the. The Lake County Courthouse in Indiana. They. Because April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, they do, like, a yearly child abuse candlelight vigil. They do some, like, education on child abuse awareness and prevention. So we are going to go there. It's our. Be our first time attending it. We just want to go there and, you know, as Dakota's army, as Dakota's army, as we call ourselves, and just extend ourselves to anybody else who's kind of been in the same situation. And I think that there's comfort in knowing that there's other people who are in the same situation. And we just kind of like to extend our. Our sympathies and our comforts to anybody else who's experienced something like this. And it's honestly a good opportunity to get out there and kind of network and let some people know, hey, this is what we're trying to do. Would you be willing to help support our cause as far as Levi's Law and kind of get some guidance on what are the next steps? How do we go from here?

[Lane]

Right, right. Yeah. I mean, it's not something that you want to meet people through, but since you can.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes.

[Lane]

Yeah. You guys have become experts on certain things that you probably never wanted to. But sure.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. We've learned a lot about a lot of things that we really hope to never have to know about.

[Lane]

Exactly. Yeah. And the three different petitions. So there's the law petition, there's the.

[Melissa Mailer]

DCFS accountability, and then we. So we actually have a total of four. The Levi's Law, which was our most recent one, which we came up with after the sentencing. Our three originals were holding DCFS accountable because that's super important. They had a huge part in this. And then we had one to upgrade Jennifer Wilson's charges from reckless homicide to murder. That one's got close to like over 5,000 signatures on it. We had started it before she got a. Before she was sentenced, so I think we're kind of grasping at straws there, but. And then the third one is the removal of her husband as principal of Lake Ridge New Tech Middle School.

[Lane]

Yeah, which only makes sense if he's willing to sit and watch his wife do something like that. What is he doing in charge of hundreds of kids?

[Melissa Mailer]

Exactly. Again, I worked for that school district for 14 years. And the children there, they need somebody that they can count on, they can rely on to keep them safe. And he is obviously not that person. Levi was also a student through the Head Start program of Lake Ridge School, so we just feel that it's a total insult to his memory. Many of our family members, both on our side and their dad's side, were Calumet, the same school district alumni. So we just feel it's very insulting to our family and to Levi's memory to have the husband of his murderer employed by you guys. Yeah, plus, like poor Aunt Linda works with them pretty closely. Well, not tries to distance herself. Yeah, my Aunt Linda, one of the witnesses for the sentencing, she still currently works for Lake Bridge School, so.

[Lane]

Oh, that must be hard to walk in the door.

[Melissa Mailer]

It is. She's been shaking, she's gotten panic attacks having to see him and it takes a psychological effect for sure.

[Lane]

Time for one last sponsor break.

[Melissa Mailer]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At hiba Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic tray. Truly non toxic ingredients, plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types. Even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare that gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. HEBA Botanica non toxic, plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop online@hiba botanica.com that's ex. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going Good man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm. That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion won. 20 billion is an insane number. Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the, the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365. Wow. Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show. Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Lane]

Something like this is not just the immediate family, you know, the nuclear family is affected. Everyone is in it.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes.

[Lane]

It's a ripple effect.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah.

[Lane]

And plus there were so many people who loved Levi legitimately. Knew him. Loved him.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes. And also, you know, members of this community because in that section of Gary that we live in, it's a very small section, everybody knows everybody. Like I had said before, Levi would go to the little store, we call it Dylan, little convenience store, right down the street from my mom's house. We'd walk there. The employees knew him by name. He knew them. They knew what he liked to eat. I mean, I just. My grandma dating and. Yeah. And so he, he had love within this community too, from friends, neighbors.

[Lane]

He sounds like he was the mayor.

[Melissa Mailer]

He could have been, you know, he could have what? He very well could have been. He had a following. He had a following through. Came over anybody that, that came over that came over that we knew, knew Levi and he made sure that they knew him and he knew their name and he was going to talk to them. And he just had a very special way of wiggling his way into your heart.

[Lane]

Yeah. I'm telling you, he has done that to me. I mean, to a degree that I usually don't get as worked up as I have when I've been researching his story.

[Melissa Mailer]

Well, thank you for loving him and caring for him the way that we do. Yes. And thank you for sharing his story. And on top of that, thank you so much for being the only content creator, podcaster to reach out to us and to actually care about the truth and the integrity of the story, because there's been many, many tick tocks and podcasts and. And stories, Articles written about him, and not one of them has ever reached out to us. A lot of what they're saying is completely untrue. Yeah.

[Lane]

That's the problem.

[Melissa Mailer]

Parts of it are true, but not all parts of it are true. But again, things get lost in communication. And you would think as a journalist, as a reporter, as a content creator, you would care about the integrity of your stories, and you'd want to make sure what you're reporting is accurate. Right? Yeah.

[Lane]

You would think. I think for some people, it's more about getting the hits and the views.

[Melissa Mailer]

Right. Yeah. Clickbait.

[Lane]

Right? Yeah. It's so much more important to me that you guys are involved because you have the right to tell your story, to tell Levi's story the way it.

[Melissa Mailer]

Should be told, truthfully and full of love, because that's. Yeah. That's all we have for baby boy. Yep.

[Lane]

Exactly. I've pledged never to tell a story without the family's involvement I had in the past, but when I realized exactly how traumatic that can be, you know, it's just not acceptable. So it's not something I'm willing to do.

[Melissa Mailer]

And I. I commend you for that. You're 100, right. It is traumatic. You know, we're on Facebook or we're scrolling through TikTok, and all of a sudden, I see my nephew's face, and then I stop and I listen to it. I'm. Well, that's not true. That's not true. That's not true. You're going out here and you're perpetrating a story that's not even true. Yeah. You're spreading misinformation. And in a way, to me, that it would have. It pisses me off. It upsets me. You're slandering my nephew's name and his legacy. You're saying things that are not true.

[Lane]

Right? Yeah.

[Melissa Mailer]

Things about my other daughter as well. Yeah. Things about my sister that are not true. So I've actually contacted new sources online in print and said, you know, you need to retract what you're saying, because that is not true. And you're slandering my family. That's. You need to have some knowledge of what you're saying. Exactly. Have some information on what you're reporting before you just pop off at the mouth.

[Lane]

Right. Just because you heard it doesn't make it true, you know.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely.

[Lane]

Yeah. That's very frustrating. And they, of course, probably don't even respond or won't take it down and.

[Melissa Mailer]

Oh, no, you're right, they don't. So we've. We've kind of learned to just. We watch them, we listen to em just to pay tribute to Levi's memory. But other than that, we. We have really had to learn to just because otherwise I'm on my phone going a million miles an hour, texting, trying to respond. Yeah. And it got this wrong. You got that wrong. I've already got heartbreak in my heart. I don't need hate in my heart too. So I just. We kind of learned to just let.

[Lane]

It go and stay out of the comment sections.

[Melissa Mailer]

Exactly. Because that. That will tear you up. We know the truth and we know all about it, so that's most important.

[Lane]

Exactly. Does he leave signs for you?

[Melissa Mailer]

I think so. I know maybe that's hopeful wishing on our end, but we kind of think of a daisy. One of. We had the dog Daisy that he was crazy about, and one of his favorite songs was Daisies by Katy Perry. We actually played that as we were laying him to rest. So whenever we just see, like, a random daisy eye, I can't help but think it's him. That or like a random bug will, like, land on you. Oh, let me tell your story about Indy. So this is. Don't tell me there aren't signs there, because my family went down to Indianapolis and they stood outside. They did a demonstration outside of a DCFS headquarters building down in Indianapolis. And they also went and held, like, a demonstration in front of Jennifer Wilson's lawyer's office. And while they were doing that, a butterfly came and it landed on my. On Kindle. It landed on a couple of different family members. I mean, and it stayed. They were able to take pictures. Went on my hand and was walking around. It's on Marley's cheek in one picture. I mean, just a butterfly to come and hang out and stay and stay on them. And that's Levi to us. Like, my. My family truly believes he was there with us that day for sure.

[Lane]

Yeah. He wanted to be involved and keep an eye on everybody.

[Melissa Mailer]

And one of the streets of that they were marching up and down. They were protesting on was Steven Street.

[Lane]

I don't think it's wishful thinking at all. It really does seem like the kids do. They want their families to know they're still here and still watching them.

[Melissa Mailer]

And. And I think that when Somebody passes away with so many unresolved feelings and things left unsaid and, and hurt emotions that that energy has to stay somewhere. It has, you know, it, it doesn't just disappear. So they take that and they, they show you that they, they're. They're still, they're gone, but they're not gone forever, right?

[Lane]

Absolutely. And you know for a fact that he's never going to be forgotten.

[Melissa Mailer]

Absolutely never. You know, we held a benefit for him and we had almost 200 people. And not just family, I mean, people that we had never met. People who knew him from the Facebook page, like people from the neighborhood, the community, like friends of friends who wanted to support her story. Such an outpouring of love and support. And because of all that love and support, we were able to make sure that he, he got the headstone that he deserved.

[Lane]

That's awesome. Yeah, I read about the lemonade stands and things like that. So you guys were super busy or have been for the best?

[Melissa Mailer]

Yes. And I think keeping busy is a way for us to kind of channel that grief into something positive. Yeah. Coping mechanism. We are constantly coming up with things to do to pay honor to his memory and to his legacy. One thing that we're working on right now is with his one year anniversary coming up, we are in contact with the Indiana Department of Transportation. We're looking and hoping to adopt two different sections of highway here in Indiana in his honor. And we think that with his love of the outdoors and nature that that's a good way to pay tribute to him, is keeping what we can clean in his memory.

[Lane]

Yeah, that's great. I'm sure he would love that.

[Melissa Mailer]

Yeah. Yeah. And then for each holiday in my mom's front yard, she has like this amazing, like memorial to him and she'll decorate it like for Christmas she put a stocking up. Ram. He has his Easter decorations out there now just, you know, so he can celebrate the holiday with us. Yep. And then somebody, we're not sure who somebody came and stopped and put beautiful flowers on it. And you know, that's not just for us to see that when we pull into the driveway. It's for the neighborhood that the people that knew him as well to kind of have a spot to go in and, and pay respect to him. Are you a member of his Facebook page? You're more than welcome. If you'd like to join to the honoring Dakota Levi Stevens, we post a lot of updates on there. We kind of try to keep everybody as informed as we can on there.

[Lane]

But yeah, it definitely is a very comprehensive place. I'm glad that that exists. I know it's got to be a lot of work, too.

[Melissa Mailer]

That's just another way when, you know, when we're having a rough day, when he's heavy on our minds, we can post a picture of him or we can share a little quote that reminds us of him. Just another way to kind of channel all this grief and devastation.

[Lane]

Well, he definitely had no shortage of love. That's something that he knew very well.

[Melissa Mailer]

That was easy to do once you. To meet him was to love him. Exactly.

[Lane]

He sounds like he just had the biggest personality.

[Melissa Mailer]

He did. Yeah. That's very good at his whole body. Yeah. He was going to be a star for sure. Whatever he decided to do in life, he was going to succeed and be great. And be great. He would have helped the world. And that. That's another thing that we just have a really hard time with, is that they didn't just take him from us, they took him from the world. The world where he would have. Yeah, he would have really done great things for and really cared about people. And, you know, it's just making differences. Yeah. Yeah.

[Lane]

It's not fair. But he can still make a difference now, and you guys are seeing that through.

[Melissa Mailer]

Despite him being gone there, he still brings love. He still brings people together. That's one thing that we've said is that on that Dakota page, there's a thousand members on there. You know, people we've never met, people you know from all over the United States. Well, different countries, too. Australia, Great Britain, Sweden. And not just supporters from the community in the world, but within our family, too. It made us stronger as a family. It made us closer as a family. We hug each other tighter at night because you just. You never know.

[Lane]

Yeah, he sounds like he, both in life and after, has the ability to do that, bring people together and make them love harder.

[Melissa Mailer]

You're absolutely right about that.

[Lane]

Thank you for sharing him with us and for trusting me to tell his story. That means so much to me, and it is my honor to help you guys get his story out there.

[Melissa Mailer]

Thank you for sharing your story, Lane. Thank you.

[Lane]

Thank you so much to Ana, Melissa and Alex for sharing so much about Levi with us. There's no question he was an incredibly special kid, and I'm honored to have any small part in helping the family keep his memory alive. Please support the family by signing the petitions we talked about in this episode. I'll include the links in the show notes along with the link for the Honoring Dakota Levi Stevens Facebook Group Finally, I wanted to mention one last thing. I've never been able to grow plants. I don't even bother trying with houseplants anymore because with my black thumb, despite my best efforts, I always end up killing the poor things. Several weeks ago, while I was researching and writing Levi's story, I happened to see a little daisy growing kit at the store and bought it on impulse because daisies were Levi's favorite flower. I took it home, followed the instructions and planted the seeds without any major disasters. Considering my track record, imagine my shock when about a week later, I found little green sprouts growing. I've been devotedly giving them little sips of water and setting them out in the sunshine whenever the sun's out and they're growing bigger every day. I'd like to think that's Levi's influence. I'll include a picture of my daisy sprouts in this episode's Facebook photo album. That's it for this episode. Join me next time for another story. If you like the show, please follow or subscribe to Suffer the Little Children on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Spreaker, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast listening app. And please leave me a five star rating and a positive review on your favorite podcast platform. Visit the website at sufferthelittlechildrenpod.com you can support the show by visiting patreon.com stlcpod where you can become a patron for rewards ranging from a shout out by name on the show to exclusive gifts. You can also support the [e-mail] Follow the podcast on Facebook and Instagram at Suffer the Little Children pod and on TikTok tlcpod. View photos Related to today's episode on Facebook. This podcast is researched, written, hosted, edited and produced by Lane Intro theme music is by Dream Note Music and all music for the show is licensed from audiojungle.net for more information about preventing or reporting Child Abuse, visit childhelp.org or call your area's child abuse hotline. And remember, if you see something, say something.

[Melissa Mailer]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you because your skin deserves more than empty promises at hiba Botanica. Every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients, plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types, even acne prone. No greenwashing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, noncommittogenic and designed with intention. HIBA Botanica nontoxic plastic free. Always safe for your skin. Shop online at hibabotanica. Com. That's excellent.