The Misery Machine - The Crimes of Keisha Monique Epps & Tamra Marshon Stewart

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

This week, Drewby and Yergy head down south to discuss the case of Keisha Monique Epps and Tamra Marshon Stewart, Tamra Marshon Stewart are two individuals arrested in August 2026 for severely neglecting and abusing four children inside a semi-truck cab for nearly seven years. Epps, a 51-year-old truck driver, and Stewart, her 37-year-old fiancé, allegedly forced the children to live inside the tractor-trailer cab starting in December 2019. If you or someone you know may be a victim of trafficking or abuse, help is available. Contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone], Text: 233733, or Chat: humantraffickinghotline.org. In an emergency, call 911. To learn about free trafficking-awareness training for drivers and travel plaza staff, visit truckersagainsttrafficking.org⛽Download the FREE Upside App here https://yt.link/X1QLMT2 and use code Misery25 to get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first tank of gas! Thank you Upside for sponsoring this video!Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachineJoin Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachineOfficial Merch Store: https://miserymachine-shop.fourthwall.com/Instagram: miserymachinepodcastTwitter: misery_podcast#documentary #themiserymachine #truecrime 🚨 EDUCATIONAL, DOCUMENTARY, SCIENTIFIC, OR ARTISTIC CONTENT DISCLAIMER 🚨CONTENT WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS ABOUT A SENSITIVE TOPIC INVOLVING LOSS OF LIFE. WE'VE REMOVED ANY GRAPHIC CONTENT TO COMPLY WITH YOUTUBE'S GUIDELINES. WE AIM TO PROVIDE INFORMATIVE, FACTUAL JOURNALISM ON A TRAGIC EVENT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST THAT DOES NOT DISMISS ITS SERIOUSNESS. ALL CLIPS ARE USED UNDER THE DOCTRINE OF FAIR USE FOR NEWS REPORTING AND ANALYSIS.Fair Use Disclaimer: "Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."THE CONTENT IN THIS VIDEO IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, BASED ON BELIEVED RELIABLE SOURCES. THEY MAY NOT BE CURRENT OR FULLY ACCURATE. VIEWERS SHOULD DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH AND NOT SOLELY RELY ON THIS INFORMATION. WE'RE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INACCURACIES OR OMISSIONS. WE DO NOT CONDONE, ENDORSE, OR ENCOURAGE ANY OF THE BEHAVIORS OR ACTIVITIES SHOWN. WE URGE EVERYONE TO ALWAYS ACT RESPONSIBLY AND WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF THE LAW.

We usually start these episodes by telling you about who the victim was. We can't do that today because, thankfully, the four victims at the center of this case are alive. They're children and they show up as redactions on the police report as they should. 51-year-old Keisha Monique Epps worked as a long-haul truck driver for a freight company called Forward Air, which operates between Atlanta, Georgia and Miami, Florida. She was an independent subcontractor taking dispatches from the company. She was engaged to 37-year-old Tamara Marshawn Stewart, and the two of them lived in Georgia. Tamara has a criminal record in Duval County.

Back in 2019, he picked up a misdemeanor battery case, and as of the date of this recording, he was still under supervision because of it. According to the arrest report, all four children had been living inside the cab of the semi-truck that Keisha drove, going back to December of 2019. They shared one bed, which was a single mattress on the top bunk of the cab. Because there were four of them up there, they could not lay the length of the bed and had to lay side by side and curled up because they could not fit. This was how the children slept every night for more than six and a half years.

We'll be back in just one minute. Please stick around for the following ad. It not only supports the channel, but it also supports charities on. our area. This week's episode has been brought to you by Upside, a free app that helps everyday people earn real cash back on the purchases that are already making, such as gas, groceries, and dining, three of the things that are draining your wallet right now. Here's how it works. Open the app, claim an offer, pay with your card like normal and get paid. That's it. And yes, it's cashback, not points you'll never use, not credits that expire. This is money you'll transfer straight

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That's an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas using promo code Misery 25. Click the link in the description and use promo code Misery 25 to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas. Thanks and back to the episode. The children told investigators they were rarely allowed out of the cab of the truck, even if they needed to use the restroom. They were fed poorly, did not attend school, did not receive medical care. They also said they were denied adequate exercise or movement. The last time any of the four was confirmed enrolled at a recognized school was November of 2020. After that, the children were told to use an app instead.

Investigators wrote that the app wasn't a recognized formal educational tool and didn't come from an accredited institution. Or in reports, they didn't get medical or dental care either, even when they were hurt or sick. One of the children told police she burned herself badly with cooked noodles and said there was a lot of blood. Keisha didn't take her to a doctor, she just wrapped it and rewrapped it again later. and the child was left with a permanent scar. For into police, one of the children had contracted an STD, and the Clay County Child Protection Team had diagnosed it.

The arrest report accuses Tamara of essaying the children and says it happened while Keisha was driving, sleeping, or showering. In their interviews, the children said they witnessed some essay by Tamara Stewart and confronted him. According to the report, when they confronted him, Tamara beat them by punching their heads. The children had also told Keisha what was going on. The report says she did not believe them,

then called the child derogatory names and continued to leave them alone with Tamara. Police said Keisha blamed the children for Tamara's behavior. Now I'm sure you're all wondering how all of this came to light. Well, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office had a separate sexual battery investigation open on Tamara, and detectives caught up with him at a lot. forward air lot sitting in a truck. That's where they found the four children. The detective first encountered them. The report says all four were walking with an unnatural gate, something investigators

tied to how many years they had spent confined in the cab of the truck. Tamara was arrested on August 5, 26, while Keisha was taken into custody the following day. They were booked into the Duval County Jail within five minutes of each other in the early hours of August. Kisha at 138 a.m. and Tamara at 143. The two of them were charged with four counts of child neglect. Each count is a third-degree felony. Keisha's bond was set at $100,003 per count. Yes, that was the real amount, which came to a total of $400,012.

If she posts it, she has to wear a GPS ankle monitor. she can't have any contact with any minors, the victims, witnesses, or her co-defendant, and she can't possess guns, alcohol, or drugs. Tamara's jail record lists no bond amount on any of his charges, and he's also being held on the violation of probation from that 2019 battery case we mentioned earlier. Keisha is set to be seen in the Duval County Courthouse on August 27th, while Tamara is due in court on September 1st. As neither have gone to trial,

Eisha Epps and Tamara Stewart are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. It is unclear what happened to the children or how they're even related to the two defendants. Some publications have claimed that they're Keisha's children, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. We can only assume that they're currently in the state's custody and are hopefully safe and recovering from this whole ordeal. Reporters asked forward air for a statement the company told them, This individual is an independent subcontractor, not a Ford Air employee. She has been removed from service and is ineligible for dispatch while criminal proceedings are ongoing. The alleged conduct is inconsistent with Ford Air's values and commitment to the highest levels of safety.

Board Air is fully cooperating with local officials on their investigation into this matter. Reporters also spoke to Dr. Justin Daryenzo, a forensic psychologist about what happens to kids in this situation. Dr. Daryenzo said, the problem is when a caretaker allows a child to be abused or abuses a child, fundamentally their sense of safety in the world change. Often when kids experience something like this, they get displaced and they go from home to home as their caretakers are being rehabilitated.

So that can do other damage too. He also said most kids in this situation can recover if the treatment and support are there. that it's not easy. A big question we had was how in the world something like this managed to go unnoticed for so long. Every night in America, tens of thousands of trucks pull into truck stops. You've got drivers refueling, families passing through on road trips, and people grabbing coffee at 2 a.m., trying to make the next 300 miles before sunrise.

Most of what happens at a truck stop is completely unremarkable. But not always with what we've discovered. discussed today as a relevant example. A large travel plaza might see hundreds of trucks a day, each one a self-contained space. A cab, sometimes with a sleeper berth, curtained off from public view. Drivers come and go on their own schedules. Some are regulars who know the staff by name. Many are strangers passing through once and never again. That transience is exactly what makes truck stops a documented location for trafficking and in cases like, the one we're sharing with you today for concealing harm over long periods of time.

A person, whether it be an adult or a child, can be present at a truck stop for days, weeks, or longer, and to a passerby simply look like someone traveling with their family or someone waiting for their ride. It's not that truck stops are uniquely dangerous places run by dangerous people. The overwhelming majority of drivers, staff, and travelers passing through are exactly who they appear to be. It's the environment. The constant movement, minimal record keeping of who's with who, and cabs that function as private curtain rooms on wheels that can be exploited by the small number of people who intend harm.

This is exactly why an entire movement of drivers, dispatchers, fuel attendance, and travel plaza staff have spent the last two decades training themselves and each other to notice. The most well-known effort in the space is a nonprofit called Trucker's against trafficking, often shortened to TAT. Founded by people within the trucking industry itself, TAT trains drivers, carriers, and truck stop employees to recognize signs of trafficking and know exactly who to call.

Their approach is deliberately simple. They do not ask drivers to become investigators or to confront anyone. They ask drivers to do one thing. Keep their eyes open and report anything suspicious. That single shift from bystander, or reporter is the foundation of almost every prevention program built around transportation hubs. So what exactly are people being trained to notice? Signs fall into a few broad categories and no single sign proves a crime is happening. Context always matters and jumping

to conclusions about a family on a road trip can cause real harm. But when several of these signs show up together, when something just feels wrong, it is worth paying attention. Advocates trained to notice a person who appears malnourished, unusually fearful, or shows visible signs of injury they seem to be hiding or explaining away inconsistently. Clothing that's inappropriate for the weather or clothing in hygiene that suggests someone hasn't had regular access to a change of clothes or a shower are also red flags, especially for someone who appears to be living out of a vehicle for an extended period. Behavioral signs in the person themselves are often more telling than physical appearance. A person who lets someone else speak for them is one of the most consistently cited

signs in trafficking awareness training. So as a person who appears coached, giving rehearsed, inconsistent, or overly simple answers to basic questions like their own name, age, or where they're headed. Fearfulness around a specific adult, flinching at sudden movement or raised voices, or a general demeanor of anxiety that doesn't match the situation are all signs advocates are taught to watch for. So is the absence of anything a typical child or teenager would have. No phone, no friends they talk about, no interest shown in things kids their age usually care about. And one of the clearest indicators isn't about the potential victim at all. Does the adult become agitated, evasive, or aggressive when staff ask routine questions?

Traffickers and offenders often maintain what advocates call coaching and control, where the victim isn't just physically present with the person controlling. them, they're behaviorally shaped by them, echoing scripted answers and avoiding any interaction that isn't mediated by the controlling adult. Staff at travel plazas are trained to notice cabs with covered or blacked out windows beyond what's normal for a sleeper berth, vehicles that stay parked in the same spot for unusually long periods of time, or a child seen in a truck cab repeatedly at odd hours without ever being enrolled in school or seen in any other context. Now again, to be very clear. None of these signs alone mean a crime is happening. What advocates are trained to look

for is the pattern. Fear plus control plus isolation, repeated over time with no plausible explanation that adds up. And there's a harder question underneath all of this. How does something go unnoticed for months or years in a place full of people? The uncomfortable answer is that isolation doesn't require a locked door. It can be built out of constant movement, never staying anywhere long enough for anyone to ask a second question. It can be built out of routine, appearing at the same stops on a schedule that never quite triggers suspicion because familiarity reads as harmless. It can be built out of silence trained into a child by fear so that even when someone does ask, are you okay? The answer given is the one the child that's learned keeps them safe in the moment

and not the truthful one. This is the part that matters most, and the part advocacy groups spend the most time on. What do you do if you notice something? Well, you do not approach, confront, or try to intervene directly. This is the first and most repeated rule in every training program. Confrontation can escalate danger to the victim and to yourself. Your job is never to investigate a rescue.

It's to report to people who are equipped to rest. respond safely. Vigilante justice is something that rarely works, and it can put you in physical danger or even legal trouble, and sometimes it leads to the perpetrators getting off instead of being put behind bars. Please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline. It operates 24-7, is confidential, and connect you with local law enforcement and service providers. We will have those resources for you in the PIN, comment, show notes, and on-screen at the end of the

episode. If it's an emergency and if a person appears to be in danger right now, just call 911. Give specific observable details, including a description of the vehicle, license plate if it's visible, physical description of the people involved, time and location. If you work at a truck stop, travel plaza, or in the industry, look into formal training. Truckers against trafficking offers free online training for drivers, dispatchers, and travel plaza staff. Many major truck stops. chains have partnered with TAT to put window decals, hotline posters, and bathroom placards throughout their locations specifically so that a potential victim, not just a bystander, might see the number and know who to call. And if you're a driver, you may be one of the only people

who sees the same rig, the same cab, or the same person repeatedly over an extended period of time in a way that no one else gets to. Truckers have literally been the reason trafficking situations were identified and stopped. Precisely because their job puts them in a position to notice a pattern that single one-time observers never could. And this is why advocacy groups increasingly trained not just on spotting a stranger who looks lost or afraid once, but on watching for a recurring presence that never adds up. Staff turnover at truck stops, the sheer volume of people passing through, and a cultural hesitation to get involved in what looks like a family matter,

all work against early detection. Recognizing that and pushing past the instinct to mind your own business is a core part of what these training programs are trying to change. It's tempting after hearing about a case like the one that inspired this episode to treat it as a singular horror, something almost impossible to imagine and it could never happen again, but every advocate who works in the space will tell you the same thing. These situations continue precisely because they don't look the way you expect them to. Most people only have an idea of what these situations look like in popular media, but dramatizations in movies rarely translate to real-life signals.

That's exactly why the training emphasizes small, repeatable actions over heroics. Notice, don't confront, and report. It's a system built to work even when nothing about the situation shouts for attention. Somewhere tonight, someone will fuel up their truck, walk past a hotline sticker on a bathroom door, and not think twice about it. For most people, that's fine because most of the time, nothing is wrong. But for the small number of times something is wrong, that sticker, that number, that one moment of someone deciding to make a call instead of looking away, that's the whole system working exactly as it's meant to. Thank you.