KY woman accused of murdering, dismembering mother fit to stand trial, judge says
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- Judge ruled defendant competent to stand trial after dual forensic evaluations.
- Experts noted possible neurocognitive deficits and debated substance use as factor.
- Pretrial conference set for Dec. 8; investigators continue evidence analysis.
The Robertson County woman accused of murdering and dismembering her mother is fit to stand trial, a judge ruled on Friday after hearing testimony from two forensic experts.
The experts performed an evaluation of Torilena Fields in June, and testified about her mental state. While there was some debate whether substance abuse may have contributed to the brutal killing, or if Torilena Fields previously suffered a traumatic brain injury, both experts said she is competent enough to stand trial.
Torilena Fields, 32, is accused of shooting her mother Trudy Fields in the head and stabbing her before decapitating, dismembering, eviscerating her mother’s corpse. She then placed her head, feet and forearms in a pot in the oven and heated them until they were charred.
Torilena Fields was charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, evidence tampering, torturing a cat or dog and obstructing governmental operations in October 2024.
After deeming her fit to stand trial, Robertson County Circuit Judge Jay Delaney scheduled a pretrial conference for Dec. 8. A trial date has not been set, as evidence in the case is still being analyzed.
What the experts said about Fields’ mental state
Fields was sent to the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center for a mental health evaluation in May. Before she was forensically interviewed, she was observed doing daily activities by the center’s staff for three weeks, and she showed no signs of a mental illness.
“She was appropriate and functioned highly throughout the time she was with us,” said Timothy Allen, a psychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience at the center.
Allen interviewed her on June 11 and determined she was competent to stand trial. Allen said she was able to identify her charges and understand the seriousness of them, knew the roles of the various parties in the case, understood everything about the legal process and knew what could happen if a jury found her guilty.
Allen also said Fields’ thinking was logical, she never acted depressed or showed signs of other mental illness while at the center. She was never treated with medication while at the center, which is something about 90% of patients at the center undergo.
“I believe Ms. Fields has the capacity to appreciate the nature of consequences of the proceedings against her, I believe she can participate rationally in her own defense,” Allen said.
Scott Bender, an associate professor of neurobehavioral science and psychiatry at the University of Virginia, also testified at Friday’s hearing and interviewed Fields in June. He said he thought she was fit to stand trial despite having a “major set of deficits.”
Bender performed a number of psychological tests on Fields, which produced low scores in verbal memory and math computation. Bender said those results suggest she could have a major neurocognitive disorder that affects her executive functioning.
Allen’s psychological tests also produced a low memory score test, but not low enough to be considered impaired, he said.
“She has a very hard time — once she commits to an idea, shaking that idea or entertaining an alternative explanation, alternative outcome or consequences,” Bender said. “That is a symptom of prefrontal lobe dysfunction.”
Bender said he believes the disorder could be caused from a motorcycle crash in June 2024, about four months before the Robertson County incident. Fields was wearing a helmet while on a motorcycle going 30 mph when the motorcycle wrecked and sent her to a hospital, according to Allen.
Fields underwent a CT scan, which revealed no major traumatic brain injury. Bender said some CT scan machines only detect major brain injuries, and it’s possible she could have suffered a mild brain injury, which would not have been detected on the scan.
Doctors also tested Fields’ consciousness on the Glasgow Coma Scale, which also determined she did not have a major traumatic brain injury. Allen said it’s rare to have cognitive development issues from mild brain injuries.
“This is a kind of injury that shows up in every ER every single day, at the trauma center anyway, and these people generally recover completely,” Allen said. “And if you don’t have other evidence that suggests they don’t then you should assume that they’ve recovered.”
Allen said he believes Fields had a psychotic episode caused by substance abuse when she allegedly killed her mother. However, Fields has repeatedly denied taking drugs and has never tested positive for illegal substance use, even when suspected of drug use in previous, unrelated incidents.
Fields is not charged with any drug-related offenses in her Robertson County case.
Allen said if drug use could be ruled out as a cause for the psychotic episode, he would classify her behavior as an unspecified psychosis in remission.
