The six-year-old boy lay motionless on the makeshift bed in the dimly lit living room. Deputy Joe Kernan had been called to the home for a welfare check, but the scene in front of him felt off. He knocked several times before Josie Dykeman finally let him inside. She claimed her boyfriend, Derek, wasn’t there despite a no-contact order after his latest arrest for bail jumping.
She directed the deputy to Alexavier Pedran, who was sleeping in the living room. Using his flashlight, the deputy saw a small healing cut above the boy’s eyebrow. Josie explained he had hit his head on his school desk and picked at the scab out of boredom. The officer tried to wake Alexavier.
He called his name. He gently shook him. The boy wouldn’t stir. He was breathing, but deeply unconscious in a way that seemed unnatural for a child.
Josie said the whole family was recovering from the effects of the pandemic, which made Alexavier very tired. She said she had given him a dose of melatonin to help him rest. Something about this explanation didn’t sit right, but the deputy checked the boy again before leaving. Josie asked him not to use the flashlight, saying repeated police visits were traumatizing her son.
The boy was now in a different position, uncovered, wearing only a diaper. The officer noticed a bruise on Alexavier’s inner thigh but didn’t pay much attention. Josie explained minor bruises were common because the children were very energetic. The deputy left, noting he found no imminent danger.
He saw no reason to remove the child from the home. The next morning, at 9:26 a. m. , Josie dialed 911 in a panic.
Her son was unresponsive. He wouldn’t wake up. First responders rushed to the home and found Alexavier lying on a bed, unconscious and not breathing. They administered CPR and Narcan, just in case opioids were involved.
Nothing revived him. The six-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, seventeen minutes after the call was made. Deputies found troubling clues near his body. An empty pill bottle and a bag containing prescription pills.
Suspicion immediately turned to the only adult present. Derek was in jail. That left Josie. The autopsy confirmed what investigators suspected.
Dr. Reed A. Quinton at the Mayo Hospital determined that Alexavier’s death was not an accident. It was the result of brutal violence and poisoning.
The little boy had suffered blunt force injuries to the head and neck. There was widespread bruising across his scalp and face, a partially healed cut above his right eyebrow, an abrasion on the back of his head, and scrapes on his neck. He had suffered hypoxic-ischemic brain damage from reduced oxygen and blood flow. His chest, back, and buttocks were bruised.
There were faint abrasions on his genital area. Internally, he had trauma to multiple organs, a bruised and torn liver, hemorrhaging in his pancreas, and a fractured rib. These injuries were not the result of CPR. Those efforts only began after he had already passed.
Toxicology revealed high levels of alprazolam in his system. The generic name for Xanax, a prescription anti-anxiety medication never meant for a child. The coroner ruled Alexavier’s death a homicide. Blunt force trauma to the body, exacerbated by alprazolam intoxication.
The arrest came a little over three months later. On May 19th, 2023, authorities took thirty-one-year-old Josie Dykeman into custody. She was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, chronic neglect of a child, and physical abuse of a child. Her bond was set at one million dollars.
The story of how Alexavier Pedran ended up in that dimly lit living room, under the care of that woman, is one of systems failing a child time and time again. Alexavier J. Pedran was born on July 10th, 2016, to parents Derek Lee Pedran and Jenna Love. He was a little boy with big brown eyes and sandy blonde hair.
He loved to sing, dance, swim, ride his bike, and play basketball. He thought of himself as fast, like Lightning McQueen. He was a mommy’s boy. He loved reading with his mother and would tell her, “You’ve got a friend in me, Mom.
”
But his parents had complicated histories. Jenna had run-ins with the law as a teenager, including involvement in a car theft at fourteen and a later stint in juvenile detention for check fraud. Derek had his own criminal record and struggles with substance use. He was charged with breaking into a locked vehicle, disorderly conduct related to domestic violence, and multiple violations of bail conditions.
He did short stints in county jail. By the time Alexavier was born, Jenna and Derek had separated, but Derek remained in his son’s life. Before the split, Derek had begun a relationship with a woman named Josie Marie Dykeman. Before she was with Derek, Josie had been dating a man named Dustin Barnes.
Dustin had a young daughter when they got together, while Josie had two children of her own. That little girl’s story is a warning that was ignored. In 2011, Dustin’s twenty-one-month-old daughter was rushed to the hospital after reportedly falling down the stairs. She had suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Josie claimed this wasn’t the first time the girl had fallen. She blamed a broken baby gate. CPS removed the girl from their care and placed her in foster care. She was returned a year later while being monitored.
In 2013, CPS intervened again. The same girl had gone from the eighty-fifth percentile in weight to the sixth. She was severely underweight and malnourished. She had fractures in her hands and feet.
The injuries to her hands were consistent with someone slamming a toilet seat cover over her fingers. Josie claimed the girl had gotten overweight in foster care and that she had put her on a diet. Dustin’s mother claimed Josie had restricted the girl to three glasses of water a day. Witnesses testified the girl was forced to raise her arms over her head when she used the bathroom, allegedly to stop her from drinking out of the toilet.
Josie pleaded guilty to child neglect as a party to a crime in November 2013. She received three years of probation. Her mother and her aunt testified on her behalf, claiming Josie had changed and had been suffering from postpartum depression. The prosecutor noted that the girl who had suffered so much was not Josie’s biological child.
Only the child of her boyfriend. Now, Alexavier’s well-being was resting in the hands of this same woman. At the time of our story, Alexavier was in the first grade, living with Derek and Josie. He missed a lot of school due to frequent illnesses or family issues at home.
His school noted poor attendance but didn’t see it as a red flag. They connected the family to a community program to help improve his attendance. But when Alexavier did show up to class, he appeared dehydrated and malnourished with pale skin. He had suspected broken fingers and chipped front teeth.
School officials saw no issues with his welfare. They explained that the bruises and injuries seemed accidental, and they did not suspect family violence. When Jenna reached out to the school for information about her son, they refused to comply. They couldn’t find proof of her joint custody.
As far as the school was concerned, Derek was the only guardian. By 2017, Derek and Josie had children of their own. Soon, their household had seven children under one roof. They were struggling to care for all of them.
Family members on Alexavier’s maternal side grew concerned. When Alexavier returned from visits with his father, he often had bruises or injuries that were hard to explain. He said Josie was mean to him and punished him in bizarre ways. She forced him to drink his own spit when he was thirsty.
She would hit him for misbehaving. Josie’s own children confirmed their mother choked and kicked Alexavier on multiple occasions. An anonymous caller reported concerns to child protective services. Josie, due to two brain injuries, was struggling to care for seven children.
The children were often left without supervision while the parents smoked outside. They were frequently moved from place to place. The older children were missing school. In early 2019, a concerned individual contacted human services about potential neglect.
Alexavier had visible abrasions on his face and a bruise on his arm after a weekend visit with his father and Josie. At the hospital, when asked about his injuries, Alexavier kept saying, “Wall, wall, wall. ” Josie said he had slammed himself into a wall while playing. Medical staff determined the injuries did not warrant a formal CPS report.
Weeks later, Derek violently assaulted Josie, slamming her head against the floor and causing a traumatic brain injury. He was charged with domestic violence-related offenses. Despite the severity, Josie requested the no-contact order be lifted and immediately resumed her relationship with him. The chaotic home life and unstable caregiving arrangements prompted further CPS involvement across state lines, including temporarily removing the children in early 2020.
On January 16th, 2023, Alexavier was taken to the Mayo Clinic for a leg injury. Josie told doctors he had two prior injuries. He slipped and fell on ice at school. His younger sister had pushed him down the basement stairs because he was walking too slow.
Josie said she had iced his leg until he felt better. She had reportedly searched for information about leg injuries in children while at the hospital and made a call to her attorney. She complained that she didn’t want the case referred to Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center. She feared that because of her history with her ex’s daughter, the doctors there would make a biased decision and call CPS again.
Alexavier was eventually referred there anyway. Doctors claimed the child’s injuries were consistent with an accidental fall. They couldn’t find evidence of mistreatment. Alexavier was sent back to Josie and Derek’s care.
A social worker conducted a home visit on January 26th. The home was cluttered but adequately stocked. The children appeared well cared for. Josie voiced frustration about the documentation, asking why CPS was still investigating if the hospital had deemed the injury accidental.
By early February 2023, Derek and Josie’s relationship had reportedly turned violent again. He was arrested for bail jumping. On February 10th, Alexavier’s cousin called for a welfare check after learning of the arrest. She feared Derek might still be in the home with Josie despite the no-contact order.
That’s when Deputy Kernan found Alexavier sleeping so deeply he couldn’t be woken. The next morning, Alexavier was dead. Police found an empty pill bottle in a bag containing prescription pills near his body. The toxicology report later revealed the sedative alprazolam in his system.
It aggravated the damage from the blunt force trauma. Children in the home were forensically interviewed. Josie’s five-year-old child told the interviewer, “Guess what? My brother died.
” He said that Alexavier was specifically spanked, choked, and kicked. He claimed Alexavier drank poisonous water the day before his death and described his brother as looking like a monster. Another child admitted she had pushed Alexavier down the stairs. She said no one helped him after the fall and Josie did nothing about it.
A fourteen-year-old child explained that she and Alexavier were treated more harshly than the other children. Josie disliked them because their presence meant ongoing contact between their parents. Josie had threatened to take away the younger children if Alexavier continued visiting his mother’s side of the family. An eight-year-old recalled the day before Alexavier’s death.
His brother had been forced to eat ramen with hot sauce even though he didn’t like it. That night the family had pizza, but Josie refused to give Alexavier any, making him eat leftover crust from the younger children instead. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Lacrosse County Courthouse wearing shirts that read “Justice for Alexavier. ” They demanded accountability for the six-year-old’s death.
Alexavier’s grandmother helped organize the protests. She said, “My grandson did die because of it. Our big goal is we have a court hearing and we hope the judge does not let her out, so no other child can be affected by this. ”
Josie entered a plea of not guilty.
Her defense attorney began suggesting that Derek was the true culprit behind the boy’s death. He claimed to have found new evidence, including recordings and eyewitness accounts, that Derek caused the fatal injuries. Prosecutors responded by emphasizing that multiple eyewitnesses, including children at the home, specifically saw Josie attacking Alexavier on the night in question. The trial was delayed multiple times.
Josie remained in jail. Her bond was eventually reduced from one million dollars to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and then to fifty thousand dollars with conditions like GPS monitoring and house arrest. In January 2025, the Facebook page posted that Josie was now free on bond with a sealed and protected address. Alexavier’s family was angry and disheartened.
They felt there had been far less urgency when it came to protecting Alexavier himself. Judge Lavine ruled that evidence from up to ten years prior could be introduced at trial, opening the door for the jury to hear about Josie’s prior incidents with her ex-boyfriend’s child. Alexavier’s family continued to miss him every day. They planned a candlelight vigil at a park in Onalaska.
On what would have been his seventh birthday, a celebration of life was held. On the first anniversary of his death, they held a remembrance day. In May 2024, on a beautiful sunny morning, Alexavier’s family and supporters gathered in a park in La Crosse to plant a tree in his honor. The location was carefully chosen by his older sister.
It was the same spot where they had last shared time with Alex during a wedding in October 2021. His family continued to work for change. They created a petition to end qualified immunity for CPS and law enforcement, establish an educational neglect law, improve data sharing between agencies, and extend deadlines for filing claims of injury. His cousin said, “Not a day goes by that he isn’t talked about or we look at his pictures.
He’s always going to be with us. I truly believe that he is with us. ”
Alexavier’s trial was scheduled to begin in August with jury selection set for August 11th. As with all cases that have yet to go to trial, Josie Dykeman is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The little boy who loved to sing and dance, who thought he was fast like Lightning McQueen, who told his mother “You’ve got a friend in me,” was gone. The systems that were supposed to protect him had failed him repeatedly. The people entrusted with his care were the ones who hurt him.
His family refuses to let his name fade.
