Celebrated Opera Singer’s Son Pleads Not Guilty to Dad’s Murder

The adult son of Grammy-nominated opera singer Jubilant Sykes pleaded not guilty Thursday to the fatal stabbing of his 71-year-old father at the family’s Santa Monica, Calif., home last December.

Micah Curtis Sykes, 31, entered the plea to one felony count of murder with a special allegation that he used a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime. Prosecutors allege he murdered his dad using a dagger, garden shears, and a barbell. The victim’s wife, who is also the defendant’s mother, was home and called 911. The celebrated singer was pronounced dead at the scene, prosecutors said.

If convicted as charged, Micah faces up to life in state prison.

Jubilant Sykes performed as the Celebrant in the Grammy-nominated 2009 recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under conductor Marin Alsop. Gramophone Magazine called him “the best of all possible Celebrants.”

“Our community continues to mourn the senseless loss of Jubilant Sykes, whose renowned baritone and legacy of music brought joy to the world,” L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Thursday. “This horrific act of violence is a painful reminder of how older adults remain vulnerable to violence, even from those closest to them.”

As Rolling Stone first reported in December, a California woman previously accused Micah of threatening behavior that led her to obtain a restraining order in 2017. “Micah shows signs of mental instability. His behavior is unpredictable,” the petition obtained by Rolling Stone read. “Micah poses a real threat… and he has been violent with his own family members.”

According to the filing, Micha approached the woman outside a church and told her he loved her and was convinced she loved him back. When someone intervened on the woman’s behalf, Micah allegedly asked the man, “Do you have a sharp object in your back pocket?”

Micah was later placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold after an attempted break-in at a home belonging to the man’s father, according to the restraining order petition. The restraining order was granted in October 2017 after a hearing.