Judge Locks Up Killer Kentucky Mom for Young Sons' Execution

Court will a judge the defendant guilty. of the offense of murder and fix her. sentence at life in prison I cannot. imagine the sheer. horror these children must have. experienced seeing their mother with a. gun seeing their mother pull the trigger. taking their life it's official now. Kentucky mom Tiffany Lucas will. potentially spend the rest of her life. Behind Bars after admitting to shooting. her children in the head Lucas who. pleaded guilty to the murders of her two. young Sons received life sentences.

during an emotional court hearing where. the boy's family members spoke we are. going to break down the latest from this. absolutely devastating story with a. prosecutor in this case as well as a. member of the Sheriff's Office who. responded to this crime scene welcome to. sidebar presented by law on crime I'm. Jesse. [Music]. Weber it was incredibly emotional in a. Kentucky courtroom on Friday morning. because that is where family members of.

6-year-old Maurice Baker Jr and. 9-year-old Jaden Howard delivered. powerful Victim Impact statements ahead. of the sentencing of their mother. Tiffany Lucas who pleaded guilty last. month to killing her young Sons back in. November of 2023 to be clear about. something though this 33-year-old didn't. take a plea deal it wasn't like she was. offered a plea deal she pled guilty but. there was no negotiated sentence she. gave up her right to a jury trial she. she gave up her right to appeal and this.

is the conclusion of the case but in the. end her sentence would be decided by the. judge judge Rodney burus and he handed. down the maximum sentence possible life. in prison for each murder a mother is. more than the giving of. life it is providing food clothing. shelter but more importantly love and. security.

I cannot imagine the sheer. horror these children must have. experienced seeing their mother with a. gun the sheer horror that second child. had as he heard the discharge of that. weapon for the first child and maybe. even both of them seeing their mother. pull the trigger taking their life as. the count one for will judge the. defendant guilty of the offense of.

murder and fix her sentence at life in. prison on count two the court will. ajudge the defendant guilty of the. offense of murder and fix your sentence. at life in prison hey by the way I just. want to take a quick minute to thank. upside for sponsoring this episode of. sidebar and also because they have a. special Black Friday promotion now if. you don't know what upside is it's great. it is a free app that gets you cash back. on daily Essentials like gas groceries. food so when I pump my gas now or go for. lunch I can potentially use the free. upside app to get cash back this is real.

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their special code bf10 now you might be. thinking because of the sheer horror of. this crime that there's no way Tiffany. Lucas could be eligible for parole in. any way right well apparently according. to Kentucky commonwealth law that is not. the case Kentucky's method of. incarceration for felony fences is. what's referred to as indeterminate. sentencing it can be somewhat difficult. to follow if you don't deal with it. every day.

But ultimately the court has to assume. that the components of the judicial. system which includes the executive. branches parole board will be followed. to the laws so yeah Kentucky. commonwealth law actually allows parole. eligibility even for a crime like this I. know um I'm going to talk about this a. little bit more I'm going to dive into. this a little bit more but I'm not going. to do it alone I had the opportunity to. sit down with two special guests in this. case Colonel Alex Payne of the bullet. County Sheriff's Office initially.

responded to this crime when it happened. we interviewed him I think right after. the story broke and also bullet County. prosecutor Bailey Taylor so the. prosecutor in this case and you're going. to be hearing from both of them as I go. through this story so baile first of all. thanks so much for coming back on it's. great to see you um I want to start with. the sentencing what were your general. thoughts as the sentencing was happening. was this what you and your team were. expecting yes it was we were thinking.

that at the very least he would give the. maximum sentence in terms of years which. would be 70 or he would uh sentence her. to life without the possibility of. parole for 20 years and let's talk about. that belly could she really get parole. how does it. work well she by Kentucky law would. appear before the parole board after she. has served 20 years at that time the. parole board could.

parole her they could also defer to a. later date or they could simply order a. serve. out what's the CH what are the chances. that she would make parole well as I. told a a couple of the local stations I. think her chances of making parole are. somewhere between slim and none and and. and that's because the gravity of these. crimes right yes Bailey how's the family. doing well.

there's two families involved because. the children had different. fathers they are taking it very hard it. was a very very traumatic. experience. the concern that they had to a large. degree was the fact that by Kentucky law. she would come up for parole and I've. tried to reassure them that that uh. chance of her getting paroled is very. very unlikely so I actually want to take. a step back and I want to go through the.

story here the tragic events that led to. Tiffany Lucas's arrest back on November. 8th 2023 because that is when police. responded to a shooting call in this. quiet residential area in kuy's bullet. County a neighbor told police that he. pulls into his driveway and what does he. see Tiffany Lucas walking down the steps. of the porch telling him that her kids. were dying before she collapses in his. driveway so this neighbor runs into her.

home attempts to save the boys sees this. horrific scene calls 911 the children. are rush to a hospital but they. die body cam footage revealed Lucas in. this kind of state of distress crying. face down in the driveway an officer can. be heard trying to ask her questions but. she remains largely silent only. occasionally murmuring or sobbing later. on in the footage Lucas was transported. to the Sheriff's Office for questioning.

where she told investigators that she. had apparently shot herself in the ear. but there were no visible wounds that. were ever found Colonel Payne good to. see you again thanks so much for coming. back here uh on sidebar you know you. investigated this from the very. beginning we had you on a previous. episode of cyber I think we actually. spoke when this story first broke now. that this has come to a close what are. your thoughts on this relief I guess. number one I'm glad it's uh.

glad it's over it's been tough on this. community it's been tough on this. department it's been tough on uh. everyone involved and uh so I guess. there's this big. uh overall feeling of relief I guess. that's how I would put it by the way I I. don't know this were you in the. courtroom uh when she was sentenced no I. I I had really no. uh inclination to go over there I really. didn't want to see her again uh it was. very emotional in there of course I'm. just right across the street I mean.

walking distance from it and the guys. that we had there and of course security. we had was pretty heavy uh obviously uh. for something of this nature that's that. emotionally charged and it was an. emotionally charged uh courtroom but uh. I'm glad the. process didn't go as long as it could. have uh you know with the uh herb. basically pleading guilty and then just. leaving it up to the judge for. sentencing that uh that that uh.

that basically sped things up a whole. lot Colonel we talked about this um that. there was evidence that she suggested. she might have shot herself in the ear. but there was no evidence to support. that um do do can you talk a little bit. more about that do you think there was. ever a plan for her to take her own life. no we didn't well I say no there was. it's just like pretty much what you said. there was no evidence to support uh that. allegation so you know we that's uh. unless there was something there that.

literally pointed you know to that. happening uh you know how it is in this. line of work we're not going to say that. that occurred if we can't put our finger. on something that absolutely tells us. that it did and in this case there. wasn't anything any idea on why she said. that i' it'd be pure. speculation uh if I had any reply to it. but uh I don't I don't know I have I. have no idea so prior to the sentence.

family members addressed Tiffany Lucas. and as you can imagine they had some. pretty harsh words for her I want you to. suffer just like I'm suffering right. now you have heard so many people tell. me I don't have nothing else to say she. just knows she she knows she have ripped. us apart you became what children their. age fear the most a monster not for one. minute do I believe like you said in you. were in a hard spot you had support in.

so many ways that you could have used I. will never forgive you I hope every day. you close your eyes that they haunt you. but I don't you don't deserve to see. them and they don't they shouldn't see. you I'll be there every parole hearing. do you hear me I'll be there at every. parole hearing now Lucas's defense team. argued that she had been suffering from. a psychotic disorder that caused her to. snap they tried to paint a picture of a. woman who was overwhelmed by mental. illness that she was not in control of.

her actions victim's family members. though could not contain their disbelief. at such a suggestion Tiffany. Lucas was a devoted. mother who showed her love for her. children folks. folks this is a CT of. law Outburst will not be tolerated now. if you cannot maintain your compos Ure.

while the other side presents their. argument I'm going to ask you to leave. now I don't want to hold anybody in. contempt that's not what needs to happen. at this point and Bailey you were in the. courtroom when this Outburst happened uh. can you describe for us your reaction to. that the the sheer grief and pain that. these family members were in as they had. to again kind of relive this tragedy all. over. again well it is obviously upsetting you. can see it by watching the full video.

particularly the uh grandmother uh the. ants and the one father Maurice senior. have all been terribly traumatized by. this situation I gave them the option to. either provide a written Victim Impact. statement to the court or if they chose. they could address the court directly. and seven of the victims which is pretty. much all of them uh are representing the. families all chose to do that Ellie what.

stood out to you about those. statements well it's obvious they all. believed and I have no reason to doubt. them that the family would have provided. Services either to Tiffany or would have. taken care of the children When Tiffany. was having trouble dealing with them and. and they were unable to do that biley. what can you tell us about Tiffany Lucas. reaction her demeanor in that courtroom.

when this was all going on to be honest. with you I never actually looked over at. her during the testimony wow what I saw. from some of the coverage was that at. some points she was upset slid down in. her chair and and wiped her eyes and the. a couple of the victims said during the. statement that she was crying also I. have to tell you as part of the. defense's argument they showed this. video footage that was recorded the day. before the shooting and in one clip.

Lucas is seen speaking to a neighbor on. the morning of November 7th 2023 during. what the defense described as a mental. health episode her behavior appeared to. be erratic as she reportedly told a. neighbor that she was in distress. needing help the video suggested that. Lucas may have been struggling with her. mental state in the days leading up to. this tragedy and then it was weird. because there's also this video of her. and the kids at a waffle house and she. appears happy. let me ask you this after investigating.

this case after it's now been concluded. any idea on why Tiffany Lucas did this. to her. children I'll be quite honest with. you. um I think there's evil in this. world um and Tiffany. Lucas embodies. that uh um and maybe I'm just being. simplistic but that's what I'm believe. Colonel what are your thoughts on that.

video uh of Lucas at the neighbor's. house and the waffle house because the. defense's argument was that she was. suffering from mental illness and drugs. what was your take on those videos of. her it's uh I really don't have an. opinion uh on them I mean she carried on. uh business as usual it appeared to me. um but they don't do anything as far as. in my mind to. uh give her any leeway into what she did.

and uh you know whether it was whether. it was drugs whether whatever it was. mental illness combination of both uh it. takes an evil individual to kill your. own children is Colonel is there. anything you could tell us about her. mental health history her drug history. uh just so we have a better. understanding as far as we're aware. there's really no mental health history. that she has uh this was a. she wasn't you know as you hear a lot of.

times in this line of work she wasn't a. frequent flyer with us uh this was. totally uh out of the blue usually. people that you know are suffering from. some type of mental illness you know we. law enforcement will have dealt with. them some we even become very familiar. with uh she was not not that person uh. and so the first time we interacted with. her well this is that's what she did by. the way back in September Lucas's case. took a really interesting legal turn. because she informed the court that she.

was originally going to be pleading Not. Guilty by reason of insanity now to be. clear about that she wasn't going to. argue that she didn't commit the. shooting but rather she couldn't be held. legally responsible for the crime. because she was not sane at the time and. Lucas by the way did make very bizarre. statements to the police when this. happened she claimed that she was. manipulated by Facebook and the internet. she also told police that the gun that. was used was given to her by someone. else maybe that it was just went off or.

something it was odd Colonel your team. was investigating this case and those. odd statements that she made about WiFi. and the internet and where she got the. gun what do you take away from all that. it's not anything that we haven't really. heard before you know and and in other. cases you know if people want to find. reasons uh you know to do what they do. whether they're looking for. justification or they're just trying to.

actually uh you know give you some. insight into what they're thinking at. the end of the day you know it doesn't. matter you know she killed her own. children period Colonel what effect has. this case had on your office what uh. effect has this had on the community. it's been tough I mean this is uh this. is really what you we deal with a lot of. things but the toughest things we deal. with in this line of work. are things that deal with children you. know the most innocent I would say of.

our population and so when you have. something this heinous this violent uh. it hits hard and uh it's it's taken a. while for uh for people to begin to cope. uh to get better as I said that that. courtroom was very emotionally charged. it. affects um a ton of people but this is a. close-knit community uh the community. did uh pull together um we were worked. very well with our partners i' I'd give.

a shout out to our Commonwealth. attorney's office who did an outstanding. job of working with us uh to prosecute. this case because once we put that case. together you know it goes to their hands. and I think they did a they did a Yan's. job and the time they had and and put. this thing together to to come to this. end bayy when you go back and you look. at that her team was intending at one. point in time to use this Insanity. defense what was your take on that well. I believe that as their uh being charged.

as her attorneys had to reasonably. explore every Avenue they had to. competently defend her and I think they. made the call that the best way and of. course I'm don't intend to speak for. them but my feeling is that they. determined that the best way was to make. an open plea and not uh extend the case. out any further than necessary but then. in a change of heart and of course the. reason we're here today is because. Tiffany Lucas la decided to plead guilty.

to two counts of murder on what is known. as an open plea I mentioned this before. basically she didn't make any kind of. deal with the prosecutors it wasn't like. a deal was offered to her and instead. she left her fate her sentence solely up. to the judge biley I wanted to ask you. about this that the last time we spoke. to you you told us about her decision to. enter this open plea and now that it's. all said and done do you think. ultimately that was the best decision in. what is a horrible case is there any. other way that this could have played.

out. realistically well I think as we talked. about a little bit before we could have. uh filed notice to present aggravating. circumstances and seek a harsher. sentence but the problem with that is. that the judge has to determine whether. or not they are in fact aggravating. circumstances we cannot just simply. submit why we believe they're. aggravating circumstances the judge has. to rule on that so he may and he may not.

depending on the evidence that was uh. produced by the defendant and her team. so I believe that we resolved this case. in almost a year which is very very. quick but we ended up with a life. sentence so I think based under the. circumstances it was a very fair and. just adjudication of the matter and it. was very efficiently handled are you. relieved that this didn't have to go to. trial yes because as we talked about. before I think that there were issues.

involving her not only her mental state. at the time but her past history and I. think we would not have had any trouble. getting an. actual conviction where I think we would. have had some risk was during the. sentencing phase if we got jurors that. were sympathetic to not only her current. plight but her past history and at that. point the range of punish ment was 20. years to life so I mean conceivably not.

totally likely but conceivably she could. have gotten 20 to 40. years B has she ever admitted exactly. what happened that. day when she was placed under oath by. judge burus and uh told. to uh or not told but asked whether or. not she was guilty the indictment states. that she shot both children so she did.

admit it but I don't think she's ever. described it in any detail at least in. uh open court will there be any efforts. to try to speak with her while she's. behind. bars I don't believe so from there. Tiffany Lucas was transported to a. Detention Center immediately after the. hearing where she will now serve out her. life sentence that's all we have for you. right now here on sidebar everybody. thank you so so much for joining us and. as always please subscribe on Apple.

podcast Spotify YouTube wherever you get. your podcasts I'm Jesse Weber speak to. you next time. [Music].