A Florida woman, Tara Sykes, was arrested and charged with attempted murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse after instructing a 10-year-old girl on multiple ways to kill a 2-month-old, authorities say.
"I've seen a lot in my career, but, when you hear about and you see the circumstances like this here, you're still amazed at the cruelty people can have. And in this case it's toward a 2-month-old infant. To me, it doesn't get more evil than that," said Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons, according to Pensacola News Journal.
On Oct. 17, Escambia County Sheriff's Office responded to a call from Gulf Coast Kids House, a nonprofit advocacy center for child abuse victims, after reports of a 2-month-old boy suffered from severe injuries after being dropped on the kitchen floor.
As authorities investigated, they discovered the girl had communicated with Sykes via an online video game. The defendant had instructed the child to drown or burn the baby. Alternatively, Sykes instructed the girl to drop the baby on the kitchen hard floor. During the interview with the 10-year-old, she told investigators how terrified she was of Sykes and believed if she didn’t carry out the defendant’s instruction, Sykes would kill her.
Furthermore, the 36-year-old defendant had also instructed the girl to kill her temporary guardians and their adult daughter by slitting their throats, dousing their bedsheets with aerosol, and setting their house on fire. Though the girl doused the sheets, she was unable to carry out the instructions after the guardian’s adult daughter found the correspondence between Sykes and the 10-year-old and the bedsheets.
“I have been in Law Enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this. 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," said Simmons reported WEAR News.
Sykes was arrested at her home along the 2000 Block of Tomlinson Road. The defendant had previously been arrested for child neglect and endangerment in May.
The defendant faces additional charges.
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