GUILTY CA - Faith Tsarnas & Kiya Kitchen, Both 14, Die In Hit & Run, Fortuna, 12 July 2016

[Laughing]

I am dubious that she can grow a conscience at this late date, although it would be the best outcome.

Could be an outgrowth of sobriety. Addiction is a horrible thing.

 

[Lilibet]

I am dubious that she can grow a conscience at this late date, although it would be the best outcome.

Try watching “Redemption Project.” The worst of the worst can and do grow a conscience. It restores a little faith in people.

 

[Lilibet]

Could be an outgrowth of sobriety. Addiction is a horrible thing.

Exactly. Addiction buries the conscience under the substance being abused. Decent people do become addicted, so I hope Marci is one of them deep down.

 

[burblestein]

Maybe you folks find a movie or show as your informant on addiction and conscience. On the other hand, I moved here from a city plagued by addiction, witnessed it, and had friends fall prey to it. And I did run across a fair share of heartless people. I trust my own experiences with junkies and psychopaths to inform me, rather than television. I don't wish anyone ill, not even Marci Kitchen, but in my experience, the combination of addiction and psychopathy is seldom overcome.

 

[fred&edna]

I very much agree. Addiction is horrible.

What was her history of addiction? Had she been diagnosed prior to the conviction? I really don't remember her troubles outside of this case. Maybe it doesn't matter... This might have been her first sobering incident??

I also wonder... Was she primarily covering up the fact she struck two family members (one being her daughter) with enough force to throw at least one the length of a football field. Or was she primarily covering distribution of weed? Or was it both?

Rational thinking doesn't play a part in addiction but it's so difficult to believe her actions of killing her own daughter wasn't sobering enough to admit guilt and beg for mercy within days. Hiding free (not seeking help for addiction-AFAIK) and taking part in legal strategies to cover her guilt... This is my personal "sticky point" (sorry, can't seem to find a better phrase). Lack of remorse and lack of treatment before finally being locked-up... It's just so personally difficult for me to accept. Maybe it's because I survived addiction and... because I'm a mom.

 

[Lilibet]

Maybe you folks find a movie or show as your informant on addiction and conscience. On the other hand, I moved here from a city plagued by addiction, witnessed it, and had friends fall prey to it. And I did run across a fair share of heartless people. I trust my own experiences with junkies and psychopaths to inform me, rather than television. I don't wish anyone ill, not even Marci Kitchen, but in my experience, the combination of addiction and psychopathy is seldom overcome.

You’re certainly entitled to your experience and opinion, burblestein. If Marci Kitchen is, in fact, a psychopath, all bets are off. We aren’t in a position to diagnose, and my hope is that her behavior was the result of her addiction, not psychopathy. She was considered a good person and mother before she did this. Time will tell.

I’m sorry you aren’t open to watching a well done documentary series that can open all of our minds to positive outcomes. Very few people are beyond redemption if they want it and work for it.

 

[Laughing]

Maybe you folks find a movie or show as your informant on addiction and conscience. On the other hand, I moved here from a city plagued by addiction, witnessed it, and had friends fall prey to it. And I did run across a fair share of heartless people. I trust my own experiences with junkies and psychopaths to inform me, rather than television. I don't wish anyone ill, not even Marci Kitchen, but in my experience, the combination of addiction and psychopathy is seldom overcome.

Much of mine was embedded in Bachelor's & Master's degrees. No film available.

Comfortable identifying addiction from MSM coverage; unqualified to diagnose psychopathology via media or records or contact.

JMHO YMMV

 

[burblestein]

I don't own a television.

 

[kaen]

Maybe you folks find a movie or show as your informant on addiction and conscience. On the other hand, I moved here from a city plagued by addiction, witnessed it, and had friends fall prey to it. And I did run across a fair share of heartless people. I trust my own experiences with junkies and psychopaths to inform me, rather than television. I don't wish anyone ill, not even Marci Kitchen, but in my experience, the combination of addiction and psychopathy is seldom overcome.

Within the field, I find that the need for long term treatment is a better way to address addiction given the relapse rates. The issues of comorbidity of addiction and mental illness are documented and can be a part of treatment plans. There is so much to deal with that long term treatment may be necessary despite the current rehab and maintenance that exists for most. (Why is there comorbidity between substance use disorders and mental illnesses?)

Marci Kitchen does face an uphill battle to stay clean, sober and work to function if she has mental illness. Not only does she need to address the behaviors that got her to where she was but she will need to come to grips with what her behavior caused --not only the physical carnage of her daughter and friend but the near permanent destruction of her relationships with family and community-- in an ongoing way.

I am a firm believer that treatment can work but I also know that the road to recovery is so filled with pitfalls that will require many do-overs for most people.

Thanks to Lillibet for the resource. I also hope that Marci Kitchen can overcome the issues that led to her killing her daughter and her friend.

All that said, I am so sad that she will not really serve time in relation to her horrible actions.

 

[Lilibet]

I very much agree. Addiction is horrible.

What was her history of addiction? Had she been diagnosed prior to the conviction? I really don't remember her troubles outside of this case. Maybe it doesn't matter... This might have been her first sobering incident??

I also wonder... Was she primarily covering up the fact she struck two family members (one being her daughter) with enough force to throw at least one the length of a football field. Or was she primarily covering distribution of weed? Or was it both?

Rational thinking doesn't play a part in addiction but it's so difficult to believe her actions of killing her own daughter wasn't sobering enough to admit guilt and beg for mercy within days. Hiding free (not seeking help for addiction-AFAIK) and taking part in legal strategies to cover her guilt... This is my personal "sticky point" (sorry, can't seem to find a better phrase). Lack of remorse and lack of treatment before finally being locked-up... It's just so personally difficult for me to accept. Maybe it's because I survived addiction and... because I'm a mom.

I share your questions, fred&edna. Everything she did after the killing flies in the face of motherhood/humanity. She played the system as long as she could, and perhaps she still is. My alcoholic father still had an addict’s mindset even when he went to AA meetings and was dry for years...so I don’t find it strange that she wasn’t sobered up enough to change her way of functioning by the death of Kiya and Faith. As kaen pointed out, it takes a lot of hard work to recover from addiction.

I hope she does that work in this new setting, but I also agree with everyone that she should serve a longer sentence for what she did. Since it doesn’t look like that will happen, I will hope for the best if she emerges in 2 years. And as I said earlier, I hope she will decide that she has a life sentence of living her life in a way to honor the short lives of Kiya and Faith. That should be her new normal.

 

[Lilibet]

Thanks for this article @kaen. It was eye-opening.
Why is there comorbidity between substance use disorders and mental illnesses?

 

[Lilibet]

Marci Kitchen could be out by Sept. 2020!

Words Worth: In 7 months, her parole date was 2021; now Marci Kitchen maybe out by 2020?

 

[burblestein]

I feel ill reading this.

 

[Lilibet]

I feel ill reading this.

I agree. It’s not nearly enough time, especially since she’s not doing her time in an actual prison. I don’t begrudge her getting rehab if she needs it, but since the beginning, MK has behaved in a way that diminishes the value of the two lives she took. A longer period of harder time seems warranted IMO.

 

[MsMarple]

I agree. It’s not nearly enough time, especially since she’s not doing her time in an actual prison. I don’t begrudge her getting rehab if she needs it, but since the beginning, MK has behaved in a way that diminishes the value of the two lives she took. A longer period of harder time seems warranted IMO.

Absolutely IMO! Marci skated through from the beginning with the courts allowing her to travel and basically live the high life while waiting for a decision.

Cripes, here's a woman who got drunk, killed her own daughter and friend, lied to LE and used every possible way to drag the consequences out. And now she's going to get off with pretty much a hand slap.

I have no sympathy for her and I personally don't believe she has learned a lesson. I predict (and I hope I'm wrong) that she will continue to abuse alcohol and drugs and get behind the wheel while intoxicated. To me her personality is such that no amount of rehab is going to change her behavior.

Okay, this is mean of me but I hope she becomes a pariah in her community - that may be the only way she'll ever change. MOO.

 

[Lilibet]

Okay, this is mean of me but I hope she becomes a pariah in her community - that may be the only way she'll ever change. MOO.

Based on the comments from locals on the stories in Lost Coast Outpost and Redheaded Black Belt (Kym Kemp), she will be a pariah. Of course, talk is cheap, and people like MK always manage to have supporters/apologists. They’ve been really quiet, but I expect they will be “there for her” when she’s released. That’s par for the course with awful people. Look at all the famous people who socialized with Jeffrey Epstein when he was released from what passed for jail time. Don’t get me started!

 

[Lilibet]

This article says that although MK will be eligible for parole in Sept 2020, the earliest she could be released is May 2021.

Terri Hardy, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, wrote in an email that the earliest date Kitchen would be released is in May 2021. Kitchen was transferred to the San Diego facility on May 17, she said.
.............

Kitchen currently has about 106 days of credit, Hardy wrote.

“The sentencing court gave her 33 days of pre-sentence credits for time served while awaiting sentencing and an additional 42 days of post-sentence and vested credits for time served while awaiting transport to prison,” Hardy wrote.

On top of the credits she gets for every day she serves, Kitchen has also earned 31 days of credit through completing programs related to education and rehabilitation, she wrote.

Marci Kitchen may go free as early as 2021 – Times-Standard

 

[burblestein]

Gagging here.

 

[Lilibet]

Gagging here.

Yes, it’s sounds pretty cushy. At least the Sept 2020 possible date was an error. Thank goodness for small favors!

“The program allows women to work, attend religious services and go to school outside the facility,” Hardy wrote. “The programs help offenders address substance abuse issues, build job skills and build support systems essential for a successful future.”

The program is run by nonprofit WestCare, which operates a variety of programs in states across the country for substance use, mental health, domestic violence, sexual assault and homelessness.

The San Diego facility run by WestCare offers up to 82 women access to domestic violence and substance abuse classes, help with developing educational and job skills, connections to health care and education, and help with family reunification and restitution payments, according to the WestCare website.

Marci Kitchen may go free as early as 2021 – Times-Standard

IF she ends up “rehabilitated” she would be very wise to stay out of Humboldt county and build a new life of service to others elsewhere IMO. Otherwise, her “support system” will be the same as she had before. And finding decent employment is extremely difficult. Not to mention the fact that she will likely be shunned by many. If she returns to Humboldt, that will be a signal (to me anyway) that she learned nothing and just wants to pick up where she left off.
JMO, MOO and all that.

 

[Lilibet]

Apparently Marci Kitchen is about to be or has been released. Thanks to the pandemic, she didn’t even stay in prison until the Sept 2020 date we heard last August!

Marci Kitchen has been released on parole as part of Governor Newsom’s imminent release plan. This comes after serving less than 2 years of an 8 year sentence.

Marci Kitchen officially released on parole less than 2 years into 8 year sentence - KIEM-TV | Redwood News

A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Luis Patino, told us, “CDCR does not release the exact date, location, or time of a release for safety and security purposes.” However, he did confirm that she will be released to state parole this month as part of the early release actions designed to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus in the prison system.

Joe Kitchen, the father of Kiya, told us in a message that Marci would be sent to county for quarantine for 14 days then she would be released in Humboldt County though still required to report to a parole officer.

Marci Kitchen: Parole ‘Imminent’ Says Humboldt County and CDCR – Redheaded Blackbelt

Faith's mother, Stephanie Baldwin, was notified by CDCR officials that Kitchen would be released early on parole.

"A woman from the state parole office called and gave us the exact date which was the 11th, I don't know how she was going to be transported," Baldwin said. "She is going to Fortuna. We were told that they always go back to their last permanent residence."

'That's not justice:' Marci Kitchen given early release date of Aug. 11