Texas mom Skylynn Tuerk has been sentenced to prison after her 3-month-old baby starved to death in a hotel room containing weapons, drugs, and cockroaches. On August 21, 2025, Judge Susan Kelly sentenced Tuerk, 34, on charges of murder, injury to a child, endangering a child, and possession of a controlled substance in Waco’s 54th State District Court, KXXV reported.
She received 40 years each for murder and injury to a child and two years each for child endangerment and the drug charge shortly after entering a guilty plea. Tuerk will serve the time concurrently and is required to spend, at minimum, two decades in prison before she will be eligible for parole. She was credited for the 633 days she already served.
In November 2023, Tuerk and the father’s child, Charles Harris, were arrested after the 3-month-old infant was discovered unresponsive at Waco’s New Road Inn. The baby boy was allegedly “starving and looking like a skeleton” and died later that day, KWTX reported. His sister, 3, was allegedly found within reach of swords and blades; she was taken into state custody.
Additionally, police found half a gram of methamphetamine, a drug scale, raw meat, and cockroaches in the hotel room, per KWTX. No “real food for the children” was available aside from fruit snacks and juice boxes.
“Skylynn and her family still grieve for the loss of their child, but are pleased to put this part of the process behind them,” Tuerk’s defense attorney, Jonathan Sibley, told KXXV. “Skylynn and her family not only lost a loved member of their family, but, this family will also have to deal with losing Skylynn for a period of time while she is incarcerated. Skylynn’s family was represented in court today to support Skylynn and I’m sure they will continue to support her in any way they can while she is incarcerated.”
“Legally, there is only a 10-year difference between a life sentence and a 40-year sentence,” said Tara Avants, a state prosecuting attorney, KWTX reported. “The horrific and irresponsible nature of this defendant’s behavior left us unwilling to agree to any lower punishment.” Meanwhile, Harris has a court date in September.
