LA CROSSE, Wis. (Court TV) — The father of a little boy who prosecutors say died from brutal abuse testified on Wednesday about his repeated attempts to confront the child’s alleged killer.
Alexavier Pedrin is seen in an undated photo shown in court. (Court Exhibit)
Alexavier “AJ” Pedrin, 6, died of blunt force trauma in February 2023. A medical examiner found the child had bruises to his face, scalp and neck along with a number of internal injuries that included a lacerated liver and swelling to his brain. A toxicology report determined Alexavier had Xanax in his system when he died.
Alexavier was living with his father, Derek Pedrin, and his girlfriend, Josie Dikeman, at the time of his death. Dikeman has been charged with homicide, chronic neglect of a child and repeated physical abuse of a child in his death; she has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Pedrin described his son as “fun” and “loving” when he took the stand on Wednesday. Pedrin said Alexavier liked to play with cars and ride his bike, and that he was living with Dikeman and their blended family at the time of his death. Pedrin had Alexavier and another child in a previous relationship; he then had two children with Dikeman. He also shares another child with a third woman with whom he is still in a romantic relationship.
While Dikeman’s defense suggested that Pedrin was responsible for his son’s death in their opening statement to the jury, Pedrin testified, “I don’t hit my kids.”
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On Feb. 10, the day before Alexavier was found dead, Pedrin testified that he came home after work to find the 6-year-old sick on the couch. He saw Alexavier vomit, but denied seeing any evidence of abuse. At the time of the incident, Dikeman had a no-contact order in effect against Pedrin; officers came to the home and arrested him that evening. Pedrin said he didn’t even get to say goodbye to his children as he was taken into custody. That night, he spoke to Dikeman from jail and said she hadn’t reported any problems at the house.
“I woke up the next morning and asked to use the jail phone,” Pedrin testified. “And one of the, I believe it was the jail sergeant, one of the jailers got me and took me to one of the old visiting booths. And my mom, her husband, my sister and her husband were there. And they told me that Alex was gone.”
In charging documents reviewed by Court TV, officers said that they responded to a 911 call from Dikeman saying that her son was unresponsive on the morning of Feb. 11. When officers arrived, they saw the child lying on his back, on the bed, wearing pajamas. Officers noted he began foaming at the mouth when they tried to get him to respond; after they began doing chest compressions, officers “observed a black fluid began coming from Alexavier’s mouth and nose. This fluid continued in larger quantities as they continued chest compressions.”
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Josie Dikeman appears in court during her trial on April 29, 2026. (Court TV)
At the scene, Dikeman allegedly told investigators that Alexavier had been sick, but was getting better, and had been in bed with her that night to sleep. Officers said Dikeman suggested the child had gotten into a purse with medication inside it.
MORE | Josie Dikeman tells dispatchers ‘I found him on the ground’ in 911 call
Pedrin said that Dikeman tried to discourage him from speaking to the police, but that he was determined to find out what happened to his son. Working with officers, Pedrin recorded conversations with Dikeman in which he pressed her for answers about what happened. In the first conversation, he confronted her about Alexavier’s cause of death, saying officers no longer believed the child had overdosed. “I’m so happy right now,” Dikeman responds to the news. “I’m not happy, but I’m happy that I know nothing’s gonna happen. You know, I’m free.”
In each conversation, Dikeman denied any knowledge about the child’s death or about what happened in the overnight hours before she found him.
Dikeman: “I woke up, checked my phone. I took my medicine, got up to get ready. Looked at the kids. Alex wasn’t there.”
Pedrin: “Then what?”
Dikeman: “I walked over and he was on the ground. I told the kids to go upstaids. I tried doing CPR.”
Pedrin: “Then what?”
Dikeman: “I held him for a while and cried and cried and cried.”
In a later recorded conversation, Dikeman told Pedrin, “I don’t get how any of this f—ing happened, but it’s a f—ing nightmare, and I hate waking up every f—ing day.”
Dikeman faces a potential life sentence if she’s convicted.
