AUGUSTA, Maine — A former Bangor woman who was found not criminally responsible for the 1993 starving death of her 5-year-old daughter had her court-ordered supervision reduced to monthly check-ins 10 months ago, and now is petitioning the court for release from state custody.
Tonia Kigas Porter, 46, was committed indefinitely to what was then the Augusta Mental Health Institute in the spring of 1995 after being found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in the November 1993 death of her daughter, Tavielle Kigas.
The girl was starved to death by her mother in the family’s Bangor apartment over a 30-day period. Porter, who told police at the time of her arrest that her child was evil, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Porter was before Justice Michaela Murphy in Kennebec County Superior Court on Friday making a plea for release from state custody, according to a Kennebec Journal story on the hearing.
Ann LeBlanc, a psychologist and director of the State Forensic Service, told Murphy that Porter is painfully aware of what she did to her daughter and is committed to taking her medication so nothing like that happens again, the Augusta newspaper reported.
Porter has friends and for nearly a decade has volunteered at the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen, a post she held until recently.
LeBlanc said while she could not guarantee that Porter would keep taking her medication or continue seeing a psychologist, she believes Porter would not pose an increased risk to society if she were released from state custody, the Kennebec Journal reported.
“Ms. Porter has demonstrated almost classic, ideal progression,” LeBlanc said. “She’s been absolutely reliable about taking her medication. She’s very clear about her role in the loss of her daughter. It’s something that is very painful, that she is very aware of and would not want to repeat. Ms. Porter has demonstrated she will take her medications.”
When asked how important she thought it is for her to take her medication, Porter answered from the witness stand that is was “very important.”
Murphy is expected to issue a written decision about whether Porter should be discharged from state custody.
Porter, who previously went by the name Tonia Kigas, has been receiving treatment for her mental illness. In June 2003, a Kennebec County Superior Court judge approved privileges that allowed her to move into a supervised apartment and work part time in the community. At the time, Porter was required to check with hospital staff at the beginning and end of each day.
Murphy approved reducing Porter’s twice daily visits to monthly check-ins last July.
Those committed, like Porter, to the custody of the Maine Commission on Mental Health must petition the court for any changes to their commitment conditions.
Request Denied!
Darn STRAIGHT!
Who has the betting pool on how long she takes her meds and how long it is before her name appears in a headline again?
1 month.
I sure hope they deny this request. The majority of people with mental illness go on and off their meds. If she is released she will no longer be monitored. The fact that she is sick enough to have starved her child should be enough to keep her monitored if not in custody.
I remember this like it was yesterday because it was so appalling………they won’t let her go, request or not.
OMG , Really ? she volunteered at the Bread of Life Soup
Kitchen. Does this bother anyone else? She can feed strangers but she tortured Tavielle
by withholding food over a prolonged period of time. There has been no justice for the child.
Intential part of her treatment, perhaps? Perhaps it was thought to be therapeutic? I don’t know.
can you imagine the hell her daughter went thru? Sick or not, can ANYTHING make up for that?
Please deny this request, she should never be set free, she killed her child, unforgivable
She’ll get out- just like the guy who killed the nuns in Waterville did and just like the mother who put her child in the oven in Auburn did……if you only actually knew who is living in your neighborhoods…..
She’s been out for years.
If this woman is truly sorry for what she did then she would want to take every precaution to ensure that something bad does not happen again. She would think of the monthly check-ins as another form of medication to control her illness. Complete freedom for this woman is a REALLY bad idea!
leave her where she is
so more or less she can be free to kill a child again
“LeBlanc said while she could not guarantee that Porter would keep taking her medication or continue seeing a psychologist, she believes Porter would not pose an increased risk to society if she were released from state custody”
No one can guarantee she keeps taking her meds. So what happens when she doesn’t? Seems as though the fellow from Arundel who murdered his son “was off his meds” too. Look what happened to his child….. not a chance the state should be taking.
I remember Todd Kigas going to the garden picking carrot top to smoke. Seriously this woman should not be in the general public.
I think it would be a very bad idea to let her have complete freedom , who is to say she doesn’t go off her meds and then think someone else’s child is evil and hurts them , she should never have seen the light of day
Isn’t she the one who thought her daughter was a robot?
Thought she was the Devil or evil. Let the poor thing starve to death to get the evil out of her house.
Her current situation is probably best for the public and her. If the state does release her, I’d be diassapointed-that’s a big chance to take. Quite frankly-the people on the sex offender list make me even more nervous.
You bring up a good point. I wonder what being released from monthly check-ins does for this person vs. having monthly check-ins to ensure she isn’t off her meds and is still being reasonable. If ON her meds she is “safe” then why take away the accountability considering it is only once per month? If it were me, I’d not have an issue checking in once monthly for accountability.
You know… I’ve always disagreed with the insanity cop-out plea and feel that even if it turns out that someone committed murder because of “temporary” or other insanity they should be minimally mandated to serve some kind of jail sentence when they are released from a medical facility. Upon release from jail/prison they should be put on probation for at least 5 years or more when the crime involves the death of a child.
I hope “Justice” Murphy will have only one answer for Tonia. NO!!!!!!
If she is well enough to be released, then she is aware and well enough to be tried for murder.
She was tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity. Therefore, she cannot be tried again……double jeopardy.
stupid how this works! she wasnt insane she was just lazy
She should have been thrown into a cell and left to die.
Murder is a horrible thing. Murder of a child is horrific. A mother murdering her child is pure evil. But paranoid schizophrenia is a horrific and evil disease that is a sickness just as cancer is. It invades one’s mind instead of their body. I know most of you believe this is no excuse and I think you feel that way because just about everyone who commits murder cries mental illness. Most criminals are as sane as you and I but this woman was truly ill. Not an excuse by any means and it sounds as though her thought process is being treated she truly understands her role and has remorse. Nineteen years in a mental facility is a long time and in some ways much harder than prison. For you are not only paying for your crime by losing your freedom and intense therapy is used to help you get a handle on your illness. Let us also consider that if a woman killed her child and is found guilty and is not insane would most likely do about the same amount of time in Maine after good time added. These so called sane criminals are not monitored or rehabilitated and most likely will return to their life of crime and become repeat prison guests. I would bet Miss Porter will not only be productive but as long as she takes her meds she will succeed and if she stops it is back to Riverside for you. I believe a lifetime of out patient therapy is needed for her to maintain and I wish her the best in her future as no one can change the past. One more thought, would you all feel the same way about keeping her locked up forever if she was your mother, daughter, sister or wife? True diagnosed mental illness is not the fault of the individual and it is up to us who love them to try and keep themselves and others safe. Until you walk a mile in someone’s shoes do not judge for their path might knock you down and to those who are religious and are judging shame on you for the Bible says, “Judge not lest ye be judged.”
:As long as she takes her medicines”. That is a big key to this- so many of them don’t- & I realize that is part of their illness.But if she has any insight into her illness you would think …well, you would think there would be overwhelming remorse , I did not find any….
Oh, so you have talked with her?
Finally, a voice of sanity in a sea of insanity. It’s so easy for pepole to sit back and spout absolutes about “murder,” sanity, “evil,” prison, and the death penalty without having any understanding at all of what “murder” actually is or what it means for someone to be found insane by a court in a criminal case.
These people don’t understand. They don’t want to understand. Perhaps because they are afraid of what they may learn. So they would rather remain ignorant and blind to both the damage a severe mental illness can do to one’s mind and to the wonders of modern medicine.
Many people have much to learn. Unfortunately, some never will.
I don’t care if a person murders another because they are mentally ill or not…it’s STILL MURDER…and your OWN CHILD makes it even worse!! She needs to have the same thing done to her. I wish there was equal punishment for murders, pedophiles, rapist, child beaters etc….they use the excuse that they went “crazy” well, then they should pay for their actions….and the best way is to give them what they gave. A whole MONTH of starving your baby day in day out of her crying for food, watching her slowly die…that is just sick and sounds pre-meditated to me.
Murder is the intentional and knowing killing of another person. Not all killings are murders. A person with cshizophrenia or psychosis is out of touch with reality and is unable to understand what they are doing, or the consequences of what they are doing.
In overly simplistic terms, psychosis is like living in a dream.
Have you ever had a dream that felt so real?
Well, what if you actually acted out a violent act in a dream and ended up killing someone? Would you be so willing to confess to murder when, in fact, you were not consciously aware of your actions?
People that have these kinds of dreams should be in a hospital somewhere Ryan. I am going to call BS here. There are usually many signs that someone is “Losing It” long before a death needs to occur. The Psychologists that allow these people to walk the streets are also to blame. I am truly sick of you taking an inhuman stance in every humane argument. Dont you ever get sick of being politically correct and follow the law books, dont you ever lead with your emotion? Or dont you have any emotion? I am sorry, not trying to attack but it just makes me shake my head how anyone can come up with any type of argument for allowing a murderer free….I agree with the others…Sick or not, they need to pay for the life they took. Obviously the dead have no way to argue
“People that have these kinds of dreams should be in a hospital somewhere Ryan.”
With the proper medication, psychosis can be eliminated. At that point, hospitalization would serve no purpose.
“I am truly sick of you taking an inhuman stance in every humane argument. Dont you ever get sick of being politically correct and follow the law books, dont you ever lead with your emotion?”
It isn’t humane to imprison someone for doing something for which they were not consciously aware of doing.
“[I] just makes me shake my head how anyone can come up with any type of argument for allowing a murderer free.”
She didn’t murder anyone. You and the others need to understand that.
Is this poor little five year old still alive? NO. Did the child take it’s OWN life?? NO. Did the Mother take the child’s life whether she was sane or insane? YES….One life gone, and someone needs to pay for it…guess who??? Yep, MOM….I think that pretty much clears it up for most of us that have any sense of humanity or decency
It is not humane or decent by any stretch of the imagination to make someone who was not aware of their actions to “pay” for a condition they did not choose to suffer from.
So what your saying is she’s more dangerous because she doesn’t know it’s wrong?
I was just going to say the same thing. Most rapists and molesters are fully aware of their decision to do what they do. Schizophrenics are detached from reality and can’t differentiate between reality and what is not. In her awful, sick brain she was not consciously and pleasurably watching her child starve. Not condoning what happened, by any means, but she is unfortunately not in the same category as a the others. I also don’t believe that the majority of the first group use the ‘I’m mentally ill’ excuse.
I think she knew what she was doing. She was killing her child because she believed the child was evil.
You’re having a dream in which someone is trying to kill you. You fight back. In the dream, you know that you are fighting back.
Now you wake up and find that you kicked over a lamp next to the bed.
In the dream, you were aware that you were fighting. But consciously, you were not aware that you were kicking a lamp.
That’s the difference between being “aware” and being “consciously aware.”
People experiencing psychosis are not consciously aware of their surroundings or their actions. They are living in an alternate reality.
Like you..
Well that’s intelligent and clearly coming from someone with no understanding of mental illness. I don’ tthink ryan is condoning anything, but offering an explanation. People forget the brain is an organ and things can malfunction beyond our control. Just because it’s a brain that we use to make conscious decisions with doesn’t mean we have 100% control of it at all times. Try telling a person with a heart condition they were born with to just try hard and ‘will it away’.
Then what your saying is people like that are more dangerous then those who kill who are not “insane”. Therefore cammot be trusted to be free.
She just jumped the gun on the Republican welfare program. Don’t blame her.
.Some people simply shouldn’t see daylight ever again.Her daughter won’t.
Right on phantom phixer ,i remember the reign of error of Elsie ,God forbid you should violate one of her pet rules ,but starve a kid to death ?and try to report that ,your gone,she tried to evict me one time, i went to court ,represented myself against her boy wonder lawyer and beat then both like a rented mule ,evntually i bought a house and moved ,she tried to say i was behind 3 months on my rent ,so i wouldnt get my deposit back,i was so glad top be rid of her i said see ya .i called her up and told her she was nuts and she woudnt see a nickle from me ,nevr heard a word from her til 2 years later i wrote a letter to the editor criticizing her for something else she did ,she pulled my old files and took me to court agin,i went in with all my bank records and proved her a liar ,then told the judge she stil owed me my deposit ,bang judgementt for the defendent ,she wasnt happy to write that check i promise ya, i still laugh about it
“She’s very clear about her role in the loss of her daughter.” She wasn’t a bystander – she was a murderer!
It literally makes me sick that a person like this is still breathing, yet alone possibly free to walk amongst us….
It truly amazes me that so many of you sit and pass judgement on the stories in the BDN as if you had a PhD in every subject. First I don’t believe any one blogging on here has a doctorate in Psychiatry to be able to determine Ms. Porter’s mental state then and now. Secondly, how would any one here know how she feels with what has happened in her life. How would you know if she feels remorse or worse pain for causing the death of her own daughter. Third, it doesn’t ever seem to matter what the story we are commenting about it always turns it a spitting contest about Republicans and Democrats. I know I am not a PhD but I do know there is nothing in this story that is political so stop bashing each other just for the sake of bashing as it is unbecoming of an adult. Can we stick to the point and please be respectful of others opinions as that way we can have an intelligent conversation and every one can learn a little more than what we knew yesterday. Fourth, try looking at it like this … is this something if said to you in a similar situation would it hurt you? If the answer is yes then it should most likely better left unsaid. Finger pointing, name-calling, disrespect and not trying to enlighten each other is just a waste of time made up of a lot of air between one’s ears where as knowledge grows by leaps and bounds if you are open to better understand the subject matter and debate it like an adult not a spoiled brat. Just my Saturday night food for thought I guess, that and I am tired of reading all the senseless comments while trying to find one that is well written and explained as to why that is the writers point not just a bunch of words on a piece of paper. Gone are the Saturday nights when I used to go out, party and have a good time. Now its home with newspaper crossword or ambition to write a comment or two. Good Grief Charlie Brown!!!!
Ummmm speaking of sticking to the point: first- psychiatrists don’t have a PhD they have a MD as they are medical doctors who generally prescribe medications for mentally ill people. Secondly- it is a psychologist-who does have a PhD- who determines (in this state) if the person poses a threat to the greater public or to themselves- not a psychiatrist. Dr. Ann M.S. LeBlanc is head of state forensics and is a psychologist and Dr. Debra Baeder is the chief psychologist at Maine state forensics. Just an FYI.
NO
Sorry, but this is just plain wrong..You bring a life into this world and then take that life?? She should have to pay with her OWN life…if she truly loved her daughter and was truly sorry for what she did, she would want to be remanded to prison, not freedom and she would want to pay pennance for the remainder of her life to honor the child she stole from the world. This is exactly the problem with people believing that Murderers can be reformed. So what, if they take a life, then their life should also be taken..and dont give me no eye for an eye crap about it either because this has nothing to do with revenge, only human decency.
“Human decency” is having the wherewithal to acknowledge that psychosis is a real condition that can result in a person doing things they are not consciously aware of doing. “Human decency” is treating those who act out psychosis as innocent victims themselves and helping them overcome the bad hand biology has dealt them.
“Human decency” is not turning a blind eye to reality and seeking to exact revenge on a fellow human being who was not consciously aware of her actions.
I am sure if it were one of your loved ones, or your child, that you would feel the same way…right? Yeah i doubt it.
Yes, I would. Because I have seen first-hand what psychosis is, and I have a degree in psychology.
She should have spent life in prison, period….considering there is no DP in Maine (rolling eyes)
How come EVERY SINGLE PERSON that murders their child, claims insanity? Seriously that’s as sick as the act. You were not insane, you were just a monster. That lady deserves to spend the rest of her life in a locked cell, I have no sympathy for her.
A woman who starves her 5 year old girl should NEVER get out of jail!!!!!! Keep her there. Skum bag
She’s not in jail.
Time to starve her. She looks like the prison food agrees with her. Can’t let this woman out in the Public where there are children.
She is not in prison, she is in the hospital, and they serve much better food there then prison believe me i worked there for nine years
Even the more reason to throw her in Prison and never let her out to kill again.
If there is no room in the jails to keep her …. why else would they release her. Then have her tubes tied. We certainly do not want another tragedy!
its a shame someone remove’s posts on this subject,, i didn’t curse or vulgar the post. stated an opinion. the shame is on you, who ever you are for deleting free speech to protect a criminal.. i’ve always heard bdn was 1 sided, now i can say i have experienced it..
may you burn in hell and rot in jail!!!
As the family of this poor child i am horrified to be notified about this hearing by th Bangor Daily News. I do not see how we monitor sex offendors and child molesters for the rest of thier lives however a woman murders a child and she has the option to go on with her life because she promises to take her medication!!!!!
A smile ??
A smile ? ( 2nd comment not an error )
She killed a little girl slowly and painfully,
there is no possible excusable reason for that.
I wish this state still had the death penalty, people like this should be first on the list!
She was found not guilty.
The death penalty would not e applicable in this case.
You have much to learn about psychosis, then.
Why ANYONE who commits MURDER ever sees the light of day outside of an electric fence totally blows my mind. It shouldnt even be an option IF YOU KILL THEN YOU SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE BEHIND BARS seen as how we cant put you to death and Parole shouldnt be an option either, I dont care if you use insanity as a plea that makes it even worst that is simply saying you had no control over your actions what would make anyone believe that would ever change? this is so unreal she should still be behind bars THIS IS PART OF WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD. Look at her she IS NOT RIGHT
How about we approve this with the condition that she leave the state and never come back?
So many ugly comments. I’ve experienced what paranoid schizophrenia can do to a family member first hand. Let me tell you that this disease is real, terrible, and deadly. Her crime was horrible but if she was truly delusional (which everyone involved with this case agrees she was) then she had no control over what she was doing. A little human compassion please.
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