A Kentucky mother convicted of murdering her two sons claimed that her ‘sugar daddy’ manipulated her and drove her to commit the slayings, interrogation footage revealed.
Tiffanie Ann Katherine Lucas, 32, pleaded guilty last month to the fatal shooting of her sons, Maurice ‘Peanut’ Baker Jr., 6, and his half brother, Jayden Howard, 9, in Shepherdsville in November 2023.
of her sons, Maurice ‘Peanut’ Baker Jr., 6, and his half brother, Jayden Howard, 9, in Shepherdsville in November 2023.
Her plea came after she initially attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
In interrogation footage obtained by Law and Crime, a dazed Lucas was seen speaking with a deputy with the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office, who asked her what she was thinking hours after the slayings.
‘I would never do something like this unless someone manipulated me,’ she said. Lucas was the only person in the house with her sons on the day they died.
She went on to lay the blame on a ‘sugar daddy’, without revealing any names, who she said had been ‘manipulating my mind for like three years.’
‘He’s been putting stuff up in my house,’ she said. ‘Real evil, dark, weird stuff.’
Lucas was previously seen in other interrogation footage making wild claims about technology ‘manipulating’ her children through video games, WiFi and YouTube.
Tiffanie Ann Katherine Lucas, 32, who was convicted of murdering her two sons, claimed that her ‘sugar daddy’ manipulated her and drove her to commit the slayings, interrogation footage (pictured) revealed
Last month, Lucas pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of her sons, Maurice ‘Peanut’ Baker Jr., 6, and his half brother, Jayden Howard, 9, in Shepherdsville, Kentucky in November 2023
The tragedy occurred on November 8, 2023, when Lucas’ neighbor called 911 after she collapsed on their driveway, hysterically screaming that her children ‘were dying’.
Her neighbor had pulled into his driveway when he saw Lucas walking down the stairs of his porch screaming before she collapsed.
The boys were discovered inside the home with gunshot wounds to the head, and Lucas’ gun left on the bed.
In the newly-released interrogation footage, Lucas claimed her ‘sugar daddy’ gave her the gun, but said that he never ordered her to use it on her sons.
‘I feel like it’s not me,’ she said. ‘I’m right with God, so it’s not me. I’m not in my mind. It’s not me. It just isn’t.’
She went on to describe herself as a ‘really good mom’ and a ‘good woman’, but refused to answer deputies’ questions for details such as how many bullets she fired.
‘I have no words,’ she said.
When Lucas was arrested at the scene, she said she was ‘so stupid’, claimed the shooting was an accident, and said that she wasn’t in a ‘good spot’
Lucas said in rambling answers that she was a ‘really good mom’ and a ‘good woman’, and repeatedly insisted she was ‘manipulated’ into the killings
Relatives called for Lucas to receive the death penalty, however she was handed consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty last month
When Lucas was arrested at the scene, she claimed the shooting was an accident and that she wasn’t in a ‘good spot.’
‘I’m so stupid,’ she added. ‘I would never do anything like this unless someone manipulated me.’
The boys were taken to a hospital in Louisville, and ultimately died from their wounds.
Bullitt County detective Richard Beahl testified that Lucas ‘made statements that she was being manipulated through Facebook, through the internet or through Wi-Fi… into doing what she did.’
In footage also revealed this week by Law and Crime, in Lucas’ interrogation she continued making bizarre statements about being manipulated by the internet.
‘I love my boys so much,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t have hurt them but I just felt like I was letting them play the video games and I wasn’t like focusing how I was supposed to, you know?’
Even though Lucas was the only other person in the house when the boys were shot, she claimed that she ‘would never do something like this unless someone manipulated me’
The tragedy occurred on November 8, 2023, when Lucas’ neighbor called 911 after Lucas collapsed on their driveway (pictured), hysterically screaming that her children ‘were dying’
She then blamed her evil act on wild theories about technology ‘manipulating’ her children through video games, WiFi and YouTube.
‘Video games and the YouTube and the kids, it just messes their minds up to where people can manipulate their parents or do whatever they want.
‘I feel like someone put something upon my house or me or something. I just don’t feel right. I don’t do this. I love my kids.’
Lucas displayed what appeared to be a lack of remorse and instead fixated on a deputy’s finger movements during questioning.
‘I’m watching you on camera move your fingers several times,’ she told an officer in the video. ‘You just keep moving them. Stop. I’m watching. It’s not right.’
‘I know I look crazy, but I’m not crazy,’ Lucas told detectives in a rambling interview just hours after allegedly killing her own children.
After the deputy left the room, Lucas reportedly admitted to firing four shots in 30 seconds, insisting the shooting ‘was an accident,’ according to the outlet.
Lucas tried several wild theories about why she killed her sons, including saying technology ‘manipulating’ her children through video games, WiFi and YouTube
She said she was ‘manipulated through Facebook, through the internet or through Wi-Fi […] into doing what she did.’
On Facebook, Lucas would often post heavily edited photos of herself and her two boys.
‘I love my babies everyday of the year, I will always use any excuse to celebrate them and show them how special they are,’ she wrote on Valentine’s Day 2022.
In another post, she proclaimed: ‘I love my kings different and that’s why Jayden & Peanut are different types of children. They are GOD SENT & every wrong I have ever done or any hurt I have ever caused I am so focused on correcting and loving them longer and deeper.’
She continued: ‘I can not guarantee a lot of things in life BUT I can guarantee the mother I will always be, the love I will always share, and the best I can ever give and do will be PROMISED to you my love, Jayden & Peanut!’
Lucas seen in court, where she initially attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity before later pleading guilty
Michelle Rice, who was a stepmother to Maurice, said she was devastated by the shootings and demanded that Lucas should be put to death.
Rice said that the smiling pictures were nothing more than an act designed to fool others that she was ‘normal’.
‘A lot of people see the social media side of her but it’s not really how she was off camera. In her personal relationships you would see her the crazy side of her,’ Rice explained.
‘She did things because she wanted people to see her as a certain way but that’s not really how she was. That’s just how she wanted to be seen on social media.
‘Nobody knew of her drug issues. She never had a job. She never worked. Things like that. The boys were taken from her previously when they were smaller because of drugs.’
In court, Lucas’ lawyers played a video revealing footage of her and her two sons at a waffle house the day before the brutal murder, showing her seemingly unstable mental state.
Waffle house staff recalled her acting like she was in her ‘own world’ and couldn’t comprehend what was going on, as reported by WLKY.
She also reportedly asked a neighbor for help and told them that God was ‘talking to her.’
‘You need me?’ the neighbor asked.
‘I need an anchor. I need a good friend. I need a good person in my life,’ Lucas replied.
Lucas did not receive the death penalty, but was handed two consecutive life terms in prison.
