Manipulated by “Facebook” or “Wi-Fi”: That’s what Tiffanie Lucas told investigators of her decision to shoot and kill her two sons in Nov. 2023. One year later, the Kentucky mother has pleaded guilty to her crimes. Lucas could face the death penalty.
In November last year, a neighbor reportedly found Lucas’ sons, 6-year-old Maurice Baker Jr. and 9-year-old Jayden Howard, shot inside Lucas’ home in Bullitt County, Kentucky. According to a Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office press release, the two children were rushed to the hospital, where they died.
According to Kentucky news outlet WHAS11, a neighbor’s doorbell Ring camera captured the sound of four gunshots from Lucas’ home, and then 32-year-old Lucas is seen in the footage exiting the house, calling for help. A neighbor said he witnessed Lucas collapse in her driveway. She told him the children were dying inside the home. He then rushed inside, where he found the two boys covered in blood in a bedroom. The gun was next to them on the bed.
Lucas said she was the only other person inside the home that day, but she called the shootings an accident and that someone else gave her the gun. “I would never do anything like this unless someone manipulated me,” Lucas told the police. But according to Bobbie Baker, Maurice’s aunt, “It wasn’t an accident. One of the boys was shot twice. You don’t shoot two little boys and call it an accident.”
Lucas changed her plea
According to investigators, Lucas, who pleaded not guilty, also made statements like, “I’m so stupid” and “I’m in such a bad spot.” She also claimed she was influenced to kill her two children because Facebook or Wi-Fi told her to. “It would be speculation whether you think it’s mental illness, just pure evil, a combination of both,” Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office Col. Alex Payne said, referring to the case. “None of it’s good. The result is horrific. Our prayers at the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office are with family members.”
In September, attorneys planned an insanity defense. However, one month later, Lucas changed her plea to guilty. Her sentencing was expected in November, and at minimum, she could spend her life in prison. Given the nature of her capital murder offense, Lucas could be sentenced to death.
A history of addiction issues
The murdered boys reportedly had different fathers, and one of the men died in 2019, but otherwise, little else is known about them. Referring to the other boy’s father, Col. Payne said his identity and whereabouts were unknown.
The children’s extended families, however, were involved in the boy’s lives and said Lucas, who had previously spent time in jail on drug charges, lived with addiction issues. The boys’ families had contacted Child Protective Services several times, the results from which are unknown. Michelle Rice, Maurice Baker Jr.’s stepmother, said, “It’s not a mental illness thing. She was on drugs. It’s drugs. So many other people really love them and could’ve been there to help them. But she wouldn’t allow that. She was too selfish. And now, they’re gone.”
