Micah Sykes, the son of celebrated opera and gospel singer Jubilant Sykes, pleaded not guilty to murdering his father during an arraignment at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Thursday (Aug. 6). The younger Sykes, 31, was arrested hours after his father was fatally stabbed at the family’s Santa Monica, Calif., residence on Dec. 8, 2025. He was taken into custody “without incident,” according to the Santa Monica Police Department. “I was born and raised in Santa Monica, so we were really pretty close out here. What a singer… Good spirit, good-hearted person, beautiful family,” Jubilant Sykes’ neighbor and friend Sammy Murphy told KTLA at the time of the murder.