PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — A Pensacola woman was arrested after she instructed a 10-year-old over social media on how to kill a 2-month-old and the adults they were living with, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

36-year-old Tara Alexis Sykes was arrested and charged with attempted murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse.

Tara Sykes mug shot, placed on a blue background with the WKRG.com logo
A mugshot of Tara Sykes (Escambia County Sheriff’s Office).

According to ECSO officials, Sykes told the child to purposely drop the infant on a solid floor to try and kill the infant.

ECSO deputies were contacted by the Gulf Coast Kids House after an infant had suffered serious injuries from being dropped on a kitchen floor by a 10-year-old, according to officials.

Deputies said they found that Sykes had communicated with the child over the social media platform Roblox.

Sykes gave the child multiple ways they could kill the infant, which included drowning the infant in a bathtub and burning the infant with scalding water, according to officials.

Officials also said Sykes told the child they could kill the adults they were living with by cutting their throats with a knife while they slept and burning their house down by dousing bed sheets with aerosol spray and setting them on fire.

ECSO deputies said the child did douse the sheets with 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,” Sheriff Chip W. 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.”