MOUNT OLIVET, Ky. (Scripps News Lexington/Court TV) — A woman arrested after her mother’s dismembered body was found inside their shared Kentucky home has been indicted on murder charges.
Torilena Fields did not appear in court on Monday after she was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, obstructing governmental operations and torturing a dog with physical injury or death. Her bail was set at $1.5 million.
Police said that they were called to the home Torilena shared with her mother, Trudy Fields, in Robertson County on Wednesday after someone who was there to work on the property told them Trudy didn’t answer the door, then saw what he thought was her dismembered body lying in the grass near a blood-stained mattress.
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Torilena Fields (Bourbon County Detention Center via Scripps News Lexington)
Kentucky State Police Trooper David Jones said, “Units responded and found a dead female in the backyard. Tried to make contact with somebody at the house. The house was locked up. They backed up, set up a perimeter. We had other units respond. Ended up getting a search warrant for the residence.”
The indictment, reviewed by Scripps News Lexington, alleges that Torilena shot her mother in the head and stabbed her multiple times, before “decapitating, dismembering and eviscerating” her body and “placing her head, hands, feet and forearms in a pot in the oven and heating them until they were charred.” The indictment also accuses Torilena of torturing and killing a dog.
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The worker who initially called the police told investigators he last saw Trudy alive the day before the gruesome discovery. He described Torilena as “casting spells on them and being confrontational.”
Due to the circumstances, investigators say they called in a special response team and entered the house Wednesday night.
“Our special response team responded to serve the search warrant because of the circumstances surrounding the body and not knowing what was in the property in the house, they executed the search warrant,” Jones said.
Investigators say Torilena appeared to have blood on her face, hands, and clothes and wouldn’t leave the home until they used tear gas on her.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled in the case for Oct. 23.
