Tamya Staten
Introduction
Tamya Staten is a 21-year-old Indianapolis mother charged in Marion County with felony intimidation with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm at another person, after police said she pulled a “large black handgun” on employees of a Once Upon a Child children’s resale store when they reminded her that her toddler was not allowed to play with the toys inside. The charges carry a combined maximum of eight and a half years in state prison if she is convicted on both counts. The reporting describes no public statement from Staten or any attorney for her.
Background Information
Beyond the court filings and store surveillance described in news reports, little about Staten is in the public record: a 21-year-old from Indianapolis who came to the Once Upon a Child store in the 1200 block of West 86th Street on July 16, 2026, with her toddler, to sell children’s clothing. She provided identification to staff as part of the resale transaction — the same ID police later used to identify her.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not adjudicated. Staten faces felony charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm at another person. The account below comes from a probable cause affidavit and store surveillance as described in news reporting; the allegations are unproven, nothing has been adjudicated, and Staten is presumed innocent. The reporting describes no public statement from Staten or any attorney for her.
Per the probable cause affidavit, Staten was completing the process of dropping off clothing when an employee saw her child playing on a small motorized toy car inside the store. The employee told her that store policy prohibited children from playing with the toys; Staten said “okay,” but allegedly kept letting her child play, and when the employee reminded her of the policy, she became angry.
The affidavit says Staten pulled a “large black handgun” from her purse and tucked it into her leggings, then poked an employee in the face with her finger while threatening that she was ready to start shooting. “We can fight about it. We can get down,” Staten allegedly told the employee. “I can use this [gun].” She then allegedly continued making threats before pulling the handgun from her leggings and pointing it at the employees — while, per the affidavit, encouraging her child to keep playing with the toy car, even demonstrating how it worked.
An employee triggered the store’s silent holdup alarm during the confrontation; Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers arrived a short while later, but Staten had already left with her child. Store surveillance captured the entire incident, including, per the reporting, Staten pointing the gun at an employee while her child rode the motorized car behind her, then putting the gun away, picking up the child and driving off in a Jeep Patriot. Detectives identified her using the Jeep’s license plate number and the ID card she had shown staff, and the employee she allegedly threatened also identified her from a police lineup.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The story broke locally through Indianapolis media in late September after the charges were filed, then spread nationally on October 1 when the New York Post carried it under the headline “Pistol-packing mom threatens Indy kids store workers” — the detail that carried it across social platforms being the disproportion of an armed threat over a toddler’s toy-car ride, recounted from the affidavit’s own quoted words. Outlets from Cincinnati’s Local 12 to Law&Crime picked the case up within a day, each recounting the same surveillance-backed sequence. The reporting describes no public statement from Staten, and no statement from the store’s operator.
Current Status
Staten was charged in Marion County court — per court records cited by Law&Crime the charges were filed Monday, while the Post’s report describes her as charged Tuesday, the discrepancy unexplained in the reporting — with one count of felony intimidation with a deadly weapon and one count of felony pointing a firearm at another person. A warrant for her arrest includes a no-bond hold until her initial hearing, and per Law&Crime she had not been arrested as of Wednesday afternoon. If convicted on both counts, she faces up to eight and a half years in state prison; the charges remain unadjudicated.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Staten’s life at 21 now turns on a felony case in which her own alleged words — quoted in the affidavit and repeated in national coverage — and a store’s surveillance footage are the core evidence. A warrant with a no-bond hold stands over her, and until she is taken into custody and the case is resolved, her name is publicly attached to the charge of pulling a gun on children’s store employees over a toy dispute. A conviction on both counts would mean up to eight and a half years in prison and a felony record; the allegations themselves are unproven.