Lawyer: Wyatt's mom 'not a horrible person'

NORWALK — The attorney representing Norwalk mother Dakota Jones said she is remorseful and wants to move forward with her life. Dakota Jones was recently sentenced in the case relating to a fire that ripped through her Norwalk home in 2023, killing her 8-year-old son, Wyatt Duchette, and severely injuring her other son, Paxton Burke. Dakota was initially charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and five counts of child endangering, all felony-level charges. She pleaded guilty on March 10 to one count of child endangering and one amended count of attempted child endangering, both felonies, in exchange for the dismissal of the other counts and was sentenced to five years of probation with no mandated jail time. Last week, the Reflector spoke with the fathers of Wyatt and Paxton, Darren Burke and Drew Duchette, who said that they were looking forward to healing after the court case and raising their surviving children, which would include supervised visits from Dakota. Dakota Jones, through her attorney Troy Wisehart, spoke about the fire and her future life. Jones herself was unable to attend the meeting with a reporter this week due to work commitments, Wisehart said. Many in the community have publicly expressed disappointment at the perceived leniency of the plea deal, but Wisehart defended the judge's decision to accept it, explaining that there was more to the story. The pipe According to reports, the probable ignition source was a glass pipe found in the debris of the sofa. An investigator said the pipe later tested positive for methamphetamine residue, a claim Wisehart denies. Wisehart also contends that the pipe had not been used for "about a year" and that Jones had just found it that day and intended to dispose of it before the tragedy. "Fourteen days after the fire, she took a hair follicle test, and it came up negative for methamphetamine," Wisehart said. Wisehart also took issue with Jones being labeled as a "meth user" by the community and claimed that his client was not on drugs at the time of the fire and has been monitored since as a condition of her bond. "The science would have shown (usage) from seven-to-10 days prior and, back to 90 days, she was negative," he said. "She also tested clean on every test while she was on bond." Wisehart provided hair follicle drug tests done 14 days after the fire to The Reflector, which showed they tested negative for methamphetamine. Wisehart also submitted copies of a second test performed on the pipe that showed no methamphetamine residue. 'She's not a horrible person' Wisehart says Jones hopes to move forward and wants the community to know that she took the plea deal to save the family from the pain of a trial. Jones wishes to have unsupervised visitation with her children and plans to initiate proceedings to secure that, wanting to "maintain a good relationship with her children." Wisehart contends that Jones feels "terrible regret" about the fire and does shoulder some blame and guilt over leaving the children home alone. However, he said he doesn't believe that rises to the level of child endangerment. Wisehart spoke about Jones' plans now that the trial is over. He stated she intends to improve herself as a parent by taking advantage of parenting classes and other programs through Job and Family Services to be reunited with her children. "She wants to reunite with the kids, which is in everyone's best interest," he said. "The kids need both parents. She's not a horrible person." Wisehart said Jones wanted to reach out and "heal with those who want to heal, accept her apology and move forward." "She wants the community to know that before this happened, she was considered a good mom," he said. "She left them alone at a time when no one foresaw a tragedy taking place, but she wants everyone to know she is not a drug addict and drugs did not start that fire."