LA CROSSE, Wis. (Court TV) — Jurors heard a defendant’s 911 call in which she claims she has no idea why a 6-year-old child in her care won’t wake up.
Josie Dikeman appears in court on May 4, 2026. (Court TV)
Josie Dikeman, 34, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, chronic neglect of a child resulting in death, and repeated physical abuse of a child in the death of her boyfriend’s son, 6-year-old Alexavier “AJ” Pedrin.
On Monday, as prosecutors continued presenting their case against Dikeman to the jury, La Crosse County Deputy Darsten Jahr testified about his response to the family’s home in February 2023.
The jury heard the 911 call that prompted Jahr’s dispatch to the scene. “I need an ambulance here right away,” Dikeman is heard saying. “We just woke up and my son is not responding. I found him on the ground, into a bag I’d had hidden and there’s an empty pill bottle on the ground.”
When pressed by the dispatcher for more information, Dikeman repeated, “I found him on the ground. He was in bed with us, and when I woke up, I was looking for him, and he was on the ground.” Dikeman told the dispatchers that she had tried giving CPR, but it didn’t work.
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Despite Dikeman saying multiple times that Alexavier was on the ground, Jahr said that when he arrived, the child was on the bed. He noticed that Alexavier had a white, frothy substance coming from his mouth; when he began doing CPR, a “black substance” immediately came out of the child’s mouth.
A medication bottle in Josie Dikeman’s name was collected as evidence. (Court Evidence)
Jahr said there was an empty medicine bottle found near the child; that bottle was collected as evidence and was labeled as containing hydrocodone. A toxicology report found Xanax, a sedative, in his system. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be blunt force trauma, noting injuries to the child’s face, scalp and neck. He also had internal injuries that included a torn liver and swelling to his brain.
While Dikeman appeared concerned that Alexavier may have been able to get into a bag of medications when she called 911, she has flatly denied abusing the child. Her defense attorney suggested in opening statements that Alexavier’s father, Derek Pedrin, was the one who hurt the child and was to blame for his death. Pedrin testified last week, saying that he would never have abused his children and last saw Alexavier alive the night before his death.
