Four young children allegedly spent more than six years trapped inside their grandmother’s truck – a “rolling dungeon” where they endured abuse so horrific that Florida’s attorney general threatened to “seek executions.”
For more than six years, a semi-truck traveled routes between Atlanta and Miami with four children allegedly trapped inside its sleeper cab, an ordeal that officials say started when they were just 5, 5, 6 and 9 years old.
Authorities say the nightmare stretched back to January 2020, as the truck continued moving from place to place while the children rarely saw life beyond the cramped space they shared.
The warrant explains that all four slept in a single bunk, urinated in a plastic cup, defecated in a grocery bag and, were subjected to years of horrific abuse by the adults responsible for their care.
‘Two sick individuals’
Keysha Monique Epps, 51, of Atlanta, and her fiancé, Tamra Marshon Stewart, 37, of Jacksonville, were arrested after investigators uncovered allegations of years of sexual and physical abuse, neglect and deprivation. The New York Times reports the children are all the biological grandchildren of Epps, who is licensed to drive semis.
Speaking to the media Sept. 1, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the truck was “nonstop on the road,” describing Epps and Stewart as “two sick individuals” who while traveling, subjected “these four kids to the most extreme abuse we’ve ever seen.”
“These children were trapped in a rolling prison and abused by the adults who were supposed to protect them,” Uthmeier said at the Kissimmee press conference. “Florida has zero tolerance for anyone who preys on children. We will seek the maximum punishment under the law.”
Pair face multiple charges
Stewart now faces two counts of sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority, two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, two counts of battery of a child by expelling certain fluids or materials, along with four child neglect charges.
Epps faces two counts each of sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority and lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, as well as four child neglect charges and four counts of failure to report child abuse.
More charges could follow as investigators continue unraveling the years of alleged abuse and the conditions the children endured inside the truck.
Years of alleged abuse
Investigators said that as Epps drove her routes, the children remained confined inside for much of the journey, including during stops when the adults stepped out.
“The evidence shows that the truck would, at times, hit a truck station where the adults would go to the restroom, they might take a shower, but they would leave the kids locked in this rolling dungeon,” Uthmeier said.
And, as authorities laid out what investigators say happened inside the truck, the description extended far beyond the sexual abuse allegations.
The children were allegedly only allowed to bathe once every one to three months, and deprived of enough food, education and basic medical and dental care.
“They were malnourished, they weren’t frequently fed, they weren’t cleaned, they weren’t given showers,” Uthmeier said, adding that the children now suffer from “severe infirmities” and were seen “walking with an unnatural gait from being confined to the cab.”
One was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection and two also suffered burns that authorities say went untreated, leaving significant scars.
Epps kept abuse quiet
During an interview with investigators, one child recalled badly burning herself with cooked noodles but receiving no medical treatment for the injury, which left permanent scarring.
The allegations became even more disturbing as investigators spoke with the children about what they say happened over those six years.
The two girls reported being sexually abused by Stewart, and the boy, now 15, told investigators he witnessed the abuse and was badly beaten after confronting Stewart and telling Epps.
Authorities allege Epps knew what was happening but neither stopped nor reported the abuse, while Stewart admitted during an interview with investigators to three sexual batteries involving one of the girls, including one incident in Orlando.
The kids were finally removed from the defendants’ custody in April 2026, after they were dropped off with their mother, Epps’s daughter, who lives in Jacksonville.
‘We have the death penalty’
For Uthmeier, the case has become an example of the kind of cruelty his office intends to pursue as aggressively as possible.
Our children are a gift from God. They’re the greatest, greatest gift we could have. Anybody that wants to violate their innocence, defile them, subject them to the worst of physical terrors needs to face the full force of justice,” the attorney general said, adding “leave our children alone.”
He then delivered a warning:” Where there’s molestation of young kids, we will pursue with everything – we have the death penalty. We will seek executions if you want to come in here and you want to physically molest, abuse, and violate our little kids.”
Before passing this story along, please let us know what punishment you think this couple deserves in the comment section below.
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