LA CROSSE, Wis. (Court TV) — A Wisconsin woman faces a potential life sentence if she’s convicted of killing her boyfriend’s young son.
Josie Dikeman appears at a pretrial hearing. (WKBT)
Josie Dikeman, 34, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree intentional homicide, chronic neglect of a child resulting in death and repeated physical abuse of a child causing death.
Dikeman is charged with the death of her boyfriend’s son, 6-year-old Alexavier “AJ” Pedrin, who died in February 2023 of blunt force trauma, WKBT reported. A medical examiner testified at a pretrial hearing that the child had multiple bruises on his face, scalp and neck, along with internal injuries that included a torn liver and swelling to his brain. Xanax was also allegedly found in his blood.
“He was a typical little kid that just had fun,” Pedrin’s grandmother, Cheryl Anderson, told WXOW. “He had cousins the same age; they were like the three musketeers. It’s hard seeing my other grandsons without him…I’m just so sad what he went through.”
Prosecutors said that Dikeman was the only adult home with the child at the time of his death. Pedrin had previously been admitted to the hospital the month before his death with a femur fracture. At the time, a doctor expressed concerns about potential abuse, according to WKBT.
Online records reviewed by Court TV indicate that Dikeman had requested to move her trial out of La Crosse County, but the judge denied the motion.
