Florida woman allegedly told her 10-year-old through Roblox to drop baby on its head and try to burn foster parents to death
One law enforcement official said he had never seen anything like the case in his 40-year career.
Florida police arrested a 36-year-old woman who allegedly instructed her 10-year-old daughter to murder a baby by dropping the child on its head, causing serious injuries.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that Tara Alexis Sykes was arrested after they were contacted by the Gulf Coast Kids House on Thursday over serious injuries reported to a 2-month-old baby.
'I have been in Law Enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this.'
The baby had been dropped headfirst onto a tile floor, and police determined that the child had been instructed to do so by Sykes through the social media features on the Roblox game. Police said that Sykes enumerated various methods by which the girl could kill the baby, including drowning in a bathtub, burning with scalding water, or dropping the baby on its head.
Sykes also allegedly told the child to kill two foster parents that the child was living with temporarily.
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 10-year-old doused the sheets but was unable to carry out the instructions.
The baby suffered a skull fracture but is expected to survive.
Sheriff Chip W. Simmons said he was "truly disturbed" by the allegations in the case.
"I have been in Law Enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this," said Simmons in a statement. "There is something really wrong with her."
Sykes was held without bond, and the sheriff's office spokesperson said they do not foresee the daughter being charged with anything. The woman was charged with attempted murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse.
Experts warn parents to monitor children on social media and limit their use to prevent access from child predators. In one incident from 2023, a Delaware man allegedly kidnapped a 11-year-old girl from her New Jersey home after interacting with her on Roblox.
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