Inset: Syied Epps (Lexington Police Department). Background: A residential street near the Lexington, Ky., location where Epps fatally injured his 9-month-old daughter (Google Maps).
A Kentucky father has been ordered to serve more than 20 years in prison after authorities said he violently abused his infant daughter, causing the brain injury that led to her death.
Syied Epps, 31, admitted guilt in May to one count of murder by domestic violence in connection with the July 2023 abuse and death of 9-month-old Sykia Epps. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a separate persistent felony offender charge.
This week, a judge sentenced Epps to 25 years in prison. Court records also credited him for nearly three years he had already spent in custody while awaiting trial.
The case began at a home on Whitney Avenue in Lexington. On July 26, 2023, Sykia was taken to a hospital with injuries described as life-threatening, according to Lexington-based CBS and The CW affiliate WKYT.
She died less than a week later.
Epps was first charged with assault, but prosecutors elevated the case to murder after the child died from severe brain trauma.
At a preliminary hearing, a detective told the court that other children inside the home saw the abuse that ultimately killed the baby.
“All three stated that Mr. Epps had dropped their sister on her head,” Detective Paul Hogan testified, according to a courtroom report by WKYT. “One articulated that quote, ‘Daddy smashed her on her head really hard and she was upside down.'”
The defendant, for his part, first claimed he was not home at the time the incident occurred, according to law enforcement.
“He originally stated that the child was under the care of a babysitter named Eric,” the detective went on. “That was all the information he had. He couldn’t provide last name, phone number, anything other than a physical description.”
Eventually, however, Epps would admit that narrative was false – after surveillance footage showed him at home at the time in question.
The detective also said Epps expressed a certain level of animosity toward the children during an argument with their mother.
“He stated she needed to come get her ‘roaches,’ referring to the children, and that if she was one minute late from work, they would be waiting out on the porch,” Hogan said.
On Wednesday, Sykia’s mother spoke multiple times — before, during and after the man who killed her child was sentenced.
“I don’t get to see her no more,” Markettia Epps said through tears, according to a courtroom report by Lexington-based NBC affiliate WLEX. “I don’t get to hold her no more.”
At one point, it was the defendant’s turn to speak.
“I’m truly sorry for my actions, and I pray that one day they can find it in their heart to forgive me for the mistake that I’ve made,” the defendant said during his allocution. “I’m truly sorry.”
But Sykia’s mother rejected the apology.
“I hate you,” she shouted in response from the gallery. “You are cruel. You are not a father. You’re not a man. You’re not nothing. It wasn’t a mistake. You knew what you did to her.”
Later, the grieving mother took the stand herself.
“I have her ashes on my chest, Syied, our daughter is on my chest,” she said, addressing the defendant while holding the necklace containing her daughter’s cremated remains.
After sentencing, Markettia Epps criticized the court’s decision as too lenient.
“No, he deserves life,” she said. “What do you mean 25? I don’t have 25 with her, I only had nine months with her. The same thing that he did to her needs to happen to him. He don’t need no 25, he needs life.”
