PERDIDO KEY, FL – Authorities in Florida have arrested a woman, accusing her of persuading a 10-year-old through the online gaming platform Roblox to attempt killing a two-month-old baby. Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reported that 36-year-old Tara Sykes allegedly communicated with the child using Roblox’s social features, urging them to commit the heinous act.
The allegations against Sykes are severe. She is accused of instructing the child to commit several violent acts, including attempting to drown the infant in a bathtub and pouring boiling water on the child, according to deputies. Authorities allege that she also directed the child to slit the throats of the adults they were staying with as they slept. Furthermore, she allegedly recommended using an aerosol spray to set the adults on fire after their deaths.
Despite these instructions, the 10-year-old reportedly failed to harm the adults, though they allegedly inflicted injury on the infant. The sheriff’s office noted that the incident came to light after Gulf Coast Kids House, a children’s advocacy center, reported that a child had dropped an infant on a tile floor, causing serious injuries. The infant is expected to survive, according to sheriff’s office spokesperson.
Following these events, Sykes was arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated child abuse. She is currently held without bond at the Escambia County Jail.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons expressed his shock, stating that in his over four-decade-long career in law enforcement, he has never encountered a case like this. Sheriff Simmons remarked on the troubling nature of the crime, finding it deeply disturbing that Sykes allegedly conceived such appalling actions and instructed a child to commit them.
Authorities hinted at the possibility of additional charges. This isn’t Sykes’ first run-in with the law. Court documents revealed that she and her husband faced charges in a separate incident. They were previously arrested after their malnourished 14-year-old daughter, who was found to be 31 weeks pregnant by a 20-year-old, raised alarms with the Department of Children and Families.
The couple reportedly failed to notify authorities of the pregnancy, which resulted from statutory rape. They allegedly threatened to kill the perpetrator unless his grandmother paid them $10,000, which she reportedly did. In this case, Sykes has been charged with neglecting a child.