The brutal murder of two-and-a-half-year-old Oakley Cobain Headlund has 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 a catastrophic failure in Pennsylvania’s justice system, where a father with a documented history of nearly killing an infant was released without supervision, only to torture and 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 his own son just two months later. Oakley, born on January 18, 2023, in Warren General Hospital to Tasha Marie Headlunds and Tyler Lee Prescott, was a vibrant, chaotic force of joy. He loved stealing his brother’s necklace, dumping paint on the family dog, and watching Dukes of Hazzard with his great-grandfather.
His mother described him as a rebel who played with aluminum cans and car keys, always climbing to be the tallest in the room. But his life was cut short in a nightmare of violence that authorities say was entirely preventable.
Tyler Prescott, Oakley’s father, was a known danger. In 2021, he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault toward an infant, a child who was not Oakley. That child nearly died.
Prescott was sentenced to 20 to 40 months in prison for endangering the welfare of a child and two years of probation for endangering another person. He served the maximum sentence and was released on June 16, 2025, without any probation oversight. The loophole in Pennsylvania law allowed him to walk free with no supervision, no monitoring, and no restrictions.
This is the gap that prosecutors and lawmakers now say directly enabled Oakley’s death.
Oakley’s mother, Tasha, wanted her son to have a relationship with his father. She brought Oakley to see Prescott, but when it was time for the boy to come home, Prescott ignored her calls and gave excuses. He had no permanent address, leaving Tasha with no way to track her son.
On July 21, 2025, Prescott posted a photo of Oakley on social media, captioned “My little player,” showing the toddler sitting on a wooden floor in sunglasses. By early August, another photo surfaced from a family birthday party, revealing scrapes on Oakley’s face, leg, and chest. Prescott texted Tasha on August 10 that he was visiting his grandmother in Harrisburg.
When she pleaded for her son’s return, he ignored her.
The final days of Oakley’s life unfolded in a Sherman Street home in Bradford, Pennsylvania, where Prescott stayed with friends Tyler Fenton and Kelsey Kabiska. Kelsey noticed Oakley behaved differently when his father was nearby. On August 13, Fenton woke to sounds like someone kicking a wall.
Later, smoke alarms triggered, and he found Oakley completely 𝓷𝓾𝓭𝓮 on the floor. Prescott quickly covered him with a blanket, claiming he had been chain smoking. At 3 p.
m. , Kelsey knocked on Prescott’s door for a cigarette. He blocked her view and shut the door.
Early on August 14, Kelsey called Fenton, urging him to check on Oakley because something felt deeply wrong.
Fenton arrived to find Prescott and Oakley on a mattress. Oakley was still, his skin blue and cold to the touch. Fenton shook Prescott awake, begging him to perform CPR, but Prescott was groggy and slow.
Fenton started CPR himself. Someone called 911. Police and EMS from the Bradford City Fire Department found Oakley unresponsive.
Prescott met officers at the door, pacing and talking to himself. He was covered in sweat and struggled to keep his story straight. He admitted using crystal meth days earlier.
Oakley was rushed to Bradford Regional Medical Center, where doctors fought to save him. He died that night from a combination of trauma and 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 toxicity from cocaine and methamphetamine. He was two and a half years old.
Prescott texted Tasha just after 5 a. m. : “Tasha, I’m sorry.
Tasha, Oak’s gone.” Police arrested him that same day on three counts of felony aggravated assault and one count of felony endangering the welfare of a child. Oakley’s body bore a number of older injuries, which Prescott blamed on a Nerf gun, a bicycle accident, and a fall from a chair.
None of those excuses could explain the severity of his condition: bruises, blunt force trauma, and a diaper full of coagulated blood. At his arraignment, Prescott appeared in a hospital gown, fidgety and talking to himself. District Judge Rich Luther addressed him directly.
Prescott interrupted and refused to cooperate. District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg Shafer recommended bail between $800,000 and $1 million. Prescott said in court, “I will prove my innocence this time.
They were lying. Yes, I do have an extensive record, but I’ve always owned up to that. I request low bail.”
Judge Luther responded, “These are serious allegations. I feel I’m going to be generous here. I’m going to set your bail at $1 million, but I think it should be higher.”
The investigation, led by Detective Mark DeLuca and Police Chief Michael Ward, revealed horrors beyond the initial charges. A forensic analysis team confirmed that Oakley was the victim of child sexual 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮. Prescott’s DNA matched samples taken from Oakley’s body.
The autopsy counted 86 injuries and ruled his death a homicide. Dr. Todd Lukasevic, the forensic pathologist, told the court that Oakley had been tortured.
Based on his findings, the child survived at least four hours of injuries before he died. As evidence mounted, the DA’s office charged Prescott with additional offenses, including criminal homicide and charges related to child sexual 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮. Under Pennsylvania law, defendants charged with first-degree murder are not eligible for bail.
Prescott was initially held on $1 million, but once homicide charges were filed, bail was denied.
Rumors spread online that Prescott’s 2021 charges were withdrawn. The DA clarified that was false. The 2021 jury did not convict Prescott of three aggravated assault charges but did find him guilty of child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮-related charges.
Days after Oakley’s murder, two women created petitions on Change. org. Amanda Phillips, on August 18, called for greater awareness of child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮, more resources for child welfare services, and demanded justice for all responsible parties.
Two days later, Jacqueline Verbosi proposed a new law named in Oakley’s memory. Her petition stated, “Oakley’s father, released from prison just two months prior after nearly beating another child to death, was not subjected to sufficient oversight or restrictions.” She proposed a federal registry for violent offenders against children, called Oakley’s Law, requiring monitoring and supervision after release.
Pennsylvania State Representative Martin Causer, from Turtle Point, took up the cause. He promised legislation to prevent another case like Oakley’s. After Prescott served his sentences for child endangerment, he was allowed the freedom to re-offend.
Causer called this loophole the direct cause of Oakley’s torture and death. In October 2025, he released a memo attached to House Bill 2075, which would amend Title 61, covering Pennsylvania’s prison system and parole boards. The bill would require offenders whose crimes involve anyone under 18 to undergo a period of further supervision after release.
Causer’s memo read in part, “This horrific case underscores the urgent need for reform to ensure that individuals convicted of crimes against children remain subject to post-release oversight and monitoring. My legislation will close this dangerous loophole by mandating a defined period of supervised release to better protect vulnerable children, support offender accountability, and enhance community safety.”
Causer is also a co-sponsor of two other amendments. House Bill 849 would create a child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 registry, similar to the 𝒔𝒆𝒙 offender registry, requiring anyone found guilty of certain child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 charges to share their residence, vehicle registration, and employment with police. This information would be entered into a publicly available database.
House Bill 1837 would create a new charge of child torture, covering a wide variety of physical and emotional mistreatment toward anyone under 18. A person found guilty of child torture would face greater punishment, including longer sentences or closer supervision after release.
Oakley’s mother, Tasha, posted his eulogy on Facebook in January 2026, her first public statement about his death. She wrote, “Many of you here have never met Oakley. So, let me tell you about him.
He never played by the rules. He was chaotic good. Let me tell you how he was the happiest little boy.
So much so that even when you were scolding him, he would laugh. He was filled with light and love, and he was too pure for this world. He gave the best cuddles and kisses.
He would wake you up by touching your cheek in the morning. Oak was so sweet and such a rebel. For instance, he loved shoes, but not like in the normal way.
No, mismatched shoes, insisting on wearing it or not at all. Or he’d grab his feet and fight you to put them on. Yet, he had no problem stealing all the adult shoes and wearing them around and then hide them.
Those could be matching, though. He would always try to stand on his tricycle seat, and he’d choose to play with dog toys over kids’ toys any day, or empty bottles of 5-hour energies and car keys. He’d choose watching Westerns and Dukes of Hazzard with his grand papa over Mickey Mouse and Paw Patrol every morning.
If they were swimming, he was moving the inner tubes from one end of the yard to the next and starting all over again in a new spot when he was done. Not that he didn’t like swimming, he just liked to do his own thing. He loved dancing, head bobbing, and jumping to music, and singing along even though he couldn’t quite form complete sentences, so it normally came out in one continuous high-pitched note.
He had a sweet tooth before he even had teeth. In heaven, he’s undoubtedly eating endless cake, popsicles, and yogurt. His favorite necklace he stole from his brother, and he wore it ever since.
Black rope necklace with a silver bead in the middle. He wore it all the time, and it wasn’t with him when we got him, so if you have seen it, please return it so his brother can have it back. His siblings loved him so, so much, always holding him, carrying him around, and playing with him.
Even his oldest sister who doesn’t play. She’d hang out with him with her friends, one who had a special bond with him, too. He loved climbing things, always wanting to be taller than everybody else.
He always wanted to be up high, and now he’s watching over us. This boy could mess up a house in seconds. I think he just liked the chaos of it all, but he had the best time doing it.
For instance, my last memory with him was painting flower pots with his siblings. He dumped paint all over my dog, got it all over the wall and floor. My dog tracked it all over the house.
The downstairs was painted blue, and upstairs was painted red by my dog, and Oakley just laughed as it took us the better part of an hour to clean it up. And we still are finding red paint around the house. What I would give for those messes again, for the joyous chaos he brought.
Oakley’s life wasn’t a tragedy. His whole life can’t be confined to a single story of how it ended. We can’t let it be.
We can’t let this erase the true memory of him, the one of laughs and dances and ice cream. Let his memory be one of love, not hate. Let his smiling face be the first thing you remember about him because that is who he was.
Let his mark on this world be one of laughter and innocence and chaotic good. We have a duty to remember him for who he truly was. His memory should be used as a tool for change and positivity, not as a weapon for hate.
He was more than a tragedy or a story. He’s a little boy who loved trucks and trick-or-treating, his family, and puppies. He was Oakley Cobain Headland.”
The next day, Tasha posted a photo of herself with her children, writing, “Forever my babies you’ll be. We miss you, Oakley, every single one of us. You will forever be remembered.
You were my shining star. I can’t wait to meet you at the gates, baby boy. I’ll be there soon.
I miss you.”
The preliminary hearing was held on October 7, 2025. Police officers and forensic analysts testified. Forensic nurse Cheryl Weer said, “Nearly every body part was affected.”
She described benchmarks for determining child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 and said Prescott hit nearly every one. Oakley’s family was present. Tasha cried the most, especially when photographs of her son’s battered body were shown.
She had to leave the room multiple times. Prescott’s attorney, Chris Pence, put a forensic DNA scientist on cross-examination, questioning whether the temperature of sample transport could have compromised results. DA Shaeffer shot back, “If there was somehow a bad temperature, that wouldn’t somehow create the defendant’s DNA on the victim’s mouth or private areas.
Would you agree with that?” The witness replied, “Yes.” Judge Luther ruled there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.
The DA is pursuing the death penalty, the harshest sentence available. The alternative is life in prison without parole. Under Pennsylvania law, the state can pursue the death penalty if the case fits at least one of 18 aggravating circumstances.
The DA’s office listed four: the defendant committed a killing while in the perpetration of a felony, the offense was committed by means of torture, the defendant committed the killing while in the perpetration of a felony under the controlled substance 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 device and cosmetic act, and the victim was a child under 12 years of age. There have only been three executions in Pennsylvania since the mid-1970s. The last was serial killer Gary Heidnik in 1999.
Former Governor Tom Wolf issued a moratorium on the death penalty in February 2015, placing a hold on all death sentences. Current Governor Josh Shapiro has followed suit, signing no execution warrants. At the time of the policy, over 180 people were on death row.
Wolf cited issues with capital punishment, arguing the system was expensive, error-prone, and applied unequally. Even though Pennsylvania hasn’t executed an inmate in over 20 years, Wolf’s decision faced pushback. The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association said he “rejected the decisions of juries, disregarded a long line of decisions by Pennsylvania and federal judges, ignored the will of the legislature, and turned his back on the silenced victims of cold-blooded killers.”
Even if Prescott receives the death penalty, he will likely remain on death row for years.
Prescott’s trial has been stalled multiple times. His attorney Chris Pence withdrew in December 2025 after Prescott accused him of conspiring with the DA. He was replaced by Andrew Capone and William Miele.
Two judges recused themselves over conflict of interest. In late April 2026, Senior Judge Norman Crum III was assigned to oversee the trial. Since then, nothing new has been reported.
Prescott is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Oakley was laid to rest on August 19, 2025. Family and friends gathered at Hollenbeck Cahill Funeral Home in Bradford, where Brother Michael Hicks officiated. He was buried at McKean Memorial Park.
His aunt Courtney said, “Oakley’s life was more than a tragedy. He was just a little boy with the brightest smile who laughed at everything and loved everyone.” She wrote on Facebook, “Oakley, I never got to finish your quilt and your bicycle’s still in my backyard where you left it.
I don’t know how this is real. I don’t know what to do with this. I’ll never forget you.”
His uncle Dylan, who raised money for the funeral, wrote that Oakley deserved to be put to rest with dignity and respect. “That was the very least that he deserved. He had 940 days on this earth.
He spent them dancing, stealing his brother’s necklace, dumping paint on the dog, picking up every rock he could carry. He watched Dukes of Hazzard every morning. He rode his tricycle and laughed at everything.”
