Florida AG Seeks Death Penalty After Couple Allegedly Caged 4 Children in a Truck Cab for Six Years

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Sept. 1 that his office will pursue capital charges against two adults accused of confining four children inside the sleeper cab of a commercial tractor-trailer for more than six years while sexually abusing and starving them of basic care.

"These children were trapped in a rolling prison and abused by the adults who were supposed to protect them," Uthmeier said at the news conference in Kissimmee, according to Fox News and WFMD. "We will pursue with everything we have the death penalty."

Tamra Marshon Stewart, 37, of Jacksonville, and Keisha Monique Epps, 51, of Atlanta, served as the children's primary caregivers from January 2020 through April 2026, according to WFTV, WSB-TV and FreightWaves. Epps worked as a commercial truck driver running routes between Atlanta and Miami with stops throughout Florida, including Orlando, all three outlets reported.

The four children, two girls and two boys, were forced to share a single bunk inside the truck and were denied adequate food, hygiene, schooling and medical care, according to WFTV. An arrest report cited by WFMD said the children had not been allowed to attend school for roughly five years. Uthmeier said during the news conference that the children used cups and paper bags as toilets, and that when the adults stopped to shower, they "would leave the kids locked in this rolling dungeon," according to WFMD and FreightWaves, which also quoted him calling the vehicle a "rolling dungeon."

Two of the children suffered untreated burns that left permanent scarring, and one child was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection after leaving the couple's custody, according to WFTV and FreightWaves. Neither outlet reported how the burns occurred, and Uthmeier's office has not released further detail.

Investigators said the two girls disclosed years of sexual abuse by Stewart, and the two boys reported witnessing that abuse and being beaten after confronting Stewart and telling Epps, according to Fox News and WSB-TV. Stewart admitted during a post-Miranda interview to committing three sexual batteries against one of the girls, including one incident in Orlando, according to WFTV. Investigators allege Epps knew about the abuse, called one child derogatory names, and continued leaving the children alone with Stewart despite a legal obligation to report suspected abuse, according to Fox News and WSB-TV.

The defendants face overlapping but not identical charge counts across accounts. WSB-TV's breakdown lists Stewart with two counts each of sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority, lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, battery of a child, child neglect without great bodily harm, and child neglect causing permanent disfigurement, for ten counts. Epps faces the same battery, molestation and neglect counts plus four counts of failure to report child abuse, for twelve counts. That totals 22 charges, matching FreightWaves' count. WFTV, however, reported the pair face "20 charges" combined, a discrepancy that account did not explain.

A second inconsistency runs through the coverage. Fox News and WFMD refer to Stewart as Epps' fiancé and use male pronouns for Stewart throughout, describing him beating the boys "by punching them in their heads." FreightWaves, by contrast, describes the defendants as "two women" and uses female pronouns when describing Stewart's confession. Neither Uthmeier's office nor WSB-TV or WFTV specified Stewart's sex, referring to both defendants by name and title only. The discrepancy has not been resolved by any outlet reviewed here.

Florida law permits prosecutors to seek the death penalty against adults convicted of sexual battery on a child younger than 12, according to Fox News and WFMD. Uthmeier's office has not yet secured a conviction. It remains an open legal question whether a Florida capital charge in a case without a homicide will survive the appeals process that inevitably follows a death sentence.

WFTV's report includes a caveat largely absent from the other coverage: "The allegations have not been proven in court." Stewart and Epps were arrested Aug. 6 and have remained jailed since, according to Fox News, and no trial date has been set. The case is being prosecuted by special counsels Rita Peters, Stephanie Bergen and Beth Shelley in Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, which covers Orange and Osceola counties, according to WFTV.

Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon said in a statement carried by WSB-TV that "protecting children is non-negotiable" and that "anyone who exploits or harms a child will face the full extent of the law." Uthmeier told reporters the investigation began three to four weeks before the Sept. 1 news conference after authorities received tips, according to FreightWaves. His office says the case remains open and additional charges are possible. Florida's Abuse Hotline, 1-800-962-2873, remains the point of contact for anyone who suspects ongoing child abuse or neglect.