A Florida woman is accused of instructing a 10-year-old child on how to slaughter a newborn and the adults they were living with through a social media platform.
Tara Alexis Sykes, 36, was charged with attempted murder after a 2-month-old suffered “serious injuries after being dropped on the kitchen floor by a 10-year-old.”
Investigators investigating the Oct. 17 incident learned that the older child had been communicating online with Sykes through a gaming platform and that the woman showed the child numerous ways to commit infanticide.
“In the communications thread, Sykes instructed the 10-year-old on various methods to kill the infant,” the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Sykes instructed the 10-year-old to drown the infant in the bathtub, burn the infant with scalding water, and drop the infant on the floor to kill the infant,”
“Additionally, Sykes had instructed the 10-year-old on 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.”
The child doused the adults’ sheets with the aerosol spray but was “unable to carry out the instructions.”
“I have been in law enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this,” said 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.”
