Tara Alexis Sykes, Pensacola, Florida woman arrested after instructing 10 year old over video game platform to drop newborn child on hard floor along with killing adults at the home. Shortly after two week old newborn was seriously injured.
A Florida woman has been accused of ‘instructing’ a 10-year-old over a social media video game platform, telling the child to kill a newborn as well as the adults the children were living with at the time.
Tara Alexis Sykes, 36, of Pensacola is alleged during her communication with the 10 year old to have directed the child to intentionally drop a 2-month-old baby on a solid tile floor in an attempt to end the infant’s life.
Following her arrest last week, Sykes was charged with one count of attempted murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) stated in a Facebook release.
According to the sheriff’s office, ECSO investigators on Thursday were contacted by the Gulf Coast Kids House in reference to a 2-month-old infant who had suffered serious injuries after being dropped on the kitchen floor by a 10-year-old. During the ECSO investigation, it was learned that the older child was communicating with Sykes through the social media platform Roblox.
Investigators said that on that platform Sykes instructed the 10-year-old to kill the newborn through a variety of methods, including drowning the infant in the bathtub, burning the infant with scalding water along with dropping the infant on the floor, investigators said.
Sykes is also alleged to have instructed the child how to kill the adults the 10-year-old was temporarily living with by cutting their throats with a knife while they slept and burning their house by dousing bed sheets with aerosol spray and setting them on fire.
Officials said the child doused the sheets but was unable to fully carry out the instructions.
The ECSO said its investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.
‘I have been in law enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this,’ stated Sheriff Chip W. Simmons. ‘I am truly disturbed by the circumstances and the thought that anyone could think like this, let alone instruct these acts to be carried out. There is something really wrong with her.’
Not immediately clear is how Sykes came to get involved with the 10 year old and what led to the woman directing the boy to carry out the misdeeds.
Jail records in Escambia County show Sykes was booked on Friday and being held on no bond.
A regard of Sykes Facebook page revealed her to be the married mother of three young children.
