Lexington father sentenced for murder of his 9-month-old daughter
A Lexington father received a decades-long prison sentence Wednesday, related to the death of his 9-month-old daughter.
Syied Epps, 31, was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for the death of his daughter, Sy’Kia Epps in 2023.
Epps pleaded guilty to murder domestic violence May 20, court documents show. He was charged with being a persistent felony offender, but that charge was dismissed as part of his plea deal.
Epps originally faced a June 18 trial for the murder of his daughter. Lexington investigators previously testified that Epps smashed and dropped the baby on her head in front of other children.
Sy’Kia Epps died July 31, 2023, after being hospitalized for nearly a week from injuries caused by her father. Police were called to the Whitney Avenue home where they located Syied Epps, who said he didn’t know anything about the incident.
He told police the child was in the care of a babysitter at the time, and he didn’t know the name or contact information for the babysitter, police previously said. The babysitter was not at the home when police arrived.
Police determined the babysitter story was false, and Epps continued to mislead police saying he was at work. The investigation revealed Epps did not work at the places he mentioned, and was at the home at the time of the assault.
Epps got into a fight with his wife, who was at work at the time of the incident, police said previously. But phone records showed Epps texted her saying, “Come get these roaches,” referring to the children. He threatened to leave them all outside if his wife was late from work, police said.
Four other children were home at the time of the attack. Three of them were interviewed by the child advocacy center and told investigations they saw Syied Epps drop Sy’Kia Epps on her head.
