A Florida mom allegedly used the online game Roblox to try to get a troubled 10-year-old child to commit a series of brutal murders — ending with the youngster slamming a baby on a hard floor in a failed attempt to kill it, according to authorities.
The alleged plot emerged after the Gulf Coast Kid’s House – a children’s advocacy center in Pensacola helping victims of child abuse – reported that a 2-month-old baby suffered “serious injuries after being dropped on the kitchen floor” by an older child, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.
Investigators then found out that the 10-year-old had been chatting on Roblox to Tara Alexis Sykes, a 36-year-old mom who was already facing child abuse charges.
In their chats on the game, “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,” the sheriff’s office said, with the latter the alleged method then used.
Sykes also allegedly instructed the child on how to kill the adults temporarily housing them — “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,” cops said.
“The 10-year-old doused the sheets but was unable to carry out the instructions,” the sheriff’s office said.
Sykes was arrested and charged with one count of attempted murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.
It was not immediately clear if she had any personal connection to the 10-year-old, or if they met online via Roblox.
“I have been in Law Enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this,” Sheriff Chip Simmons said.
“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.”
The troubling case marks Sykes’ second arrest this year.
On May 28, she and her husband were taken into custody after they admitted that they knew their 14-year-old daughter had been impregnated by their 20-year-old friend, whom they allowed to live with them, according to the arrest report viewed by The Post.
The couple was charged with child abuse for failing to report the “known sexual battery,” according to the document.
The couple’s daughter – who was 31 weeks pregnant and malnourished – also told police that the pair threatened to kill the 20-year-old if his grandmother did not pay them $10,000, the report said.
Both cases are now pending.
