A Florida woman allegedly used the online gaming platform Roblox to instruct a 10-year-old to kill a 2-month-old infant by dropping it on a tile floor, The Independent reported. Tara Sykes, 36, who reportedly connected with the child over Roblox’s built-in social media, also told them to scald the baby with boiling water, slit the throats of the adults the children were staying with, and set the corpses on fire, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said. The child was “unable to carry out instructions” for harming the adults, the police said, but did hurt the infant, who “suffered serious injuries” after being dropped but is expected to survive. Sykes is under arrest and faces a charge of attempted murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse. “I have been in Law Enforcement for over 40 years and have never seen anything quite like this,” said Escambia County Sheriff Chip 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.” According to court records, TheIndependent reported, Sykes and her husband were previously arrested and charged with child neglect and causing bodily harm after their 14-year-old daughter was found pregnant and malnourished in their home.
