Press Release

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that a Roselle woman accused of pouring boiling water on her boyfriend as he slept on the couch has been sentenced to ten years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Alexis Sykes, 23 (d.o.b. 8/12/1998) of the 0-100 block of W. Central Avenue, appeared in court this morning in front of Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh, who handed down the sentence. Following the incident, Sykes went missing. On January 8, 2021, a $250,000 arrest warrant was issued for Sykes. She was located in Okitbbeha County, Mississippi on January 19 and extradited back to DuPage County to face the charges against her. On February 2, 2021, she appeared in Bond Court where bond was set at $500,000 with 10% to apply. She has remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail since that time. This morning Sykes entered an agreed plea to one count of Aggravated Battery by Caustic Substance, a Class X Felony.     

Today’s sentencing is the result of allegations that in the early morning hours of January 2, 2021, Sykes poured a pot of boiling water on her boyfriend while he slept on the couch in the apartment they shared in Roselle. An investigation into the matter found that Sykes recorded herself committing this act and posted the video to Snapchat with the following caption, “I kinda feel bad now because he got 2&3rd degree Burns from face to waist & they rushin him to burn center but oh well (shrugging shoulder emoji) BITCH (emoji blowing kiss) n still cried & beg me to drive him to hospital.” The investigation also found that after dousing her victim with the boiling water, Sykes hid the victim’s car keys from him as the victim described watching his skin fall off his arms. The victim was finally able to get his keys and drove himself to a local hospital where shortly thereafter, he was transported to Loyola University Medical Center Burn Unit where he spent nearly two weeks and underwent skin graft surgery to treat his burns. 

“The cruelty displayed by Ms. Sykes as she doused her sleeping boyfriend with a pot of boiling water is extremely disturbing,” Berlin said. “Considering her complete disregard for the amount of pain and suffering she caused her victim, one can only come to the conclusion that she has most certainly earned every year of her ten-year sentence. I thank Assistant State’s Attorney Bridget Carlson for her efforts in building a strong case against this defendant that ultimately led to today’s guilty plea.”    

Sykes will be required to serve 85% of her sentence before being eligible for parole.  
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