EUREKA, CA., (KIEM)- Two 14 year old girls were struck by a drunk driver, and left to die on a Fortuna Street in July of 2016. The driver, was one of the girl’s mothers. Marci Kitchen. Kitchen appeared in court today to be sentenced for vehicular manslaughter, a crime she pleaded guilty to.
“All of my life I’ve wanted to be a mother, but a mother does not kill a child. She does not injure a child. A mother does not leave a child.” Marci Kitchen said, as she addressed Judge Kaleb Cochrum today. Kitchen went on to acknowledge that the victims are people she loves and people who “used to love her.” She told the judge she was sorry and sat down.
The next time Marcia kitchen stood up she was in handcuffs, led from the courtroom to await the beginning of her 8 year prison sentence.
Joe Kitchen, Kiya Kitchen’s father spoke on behalf of the prosecution, asking that Marci be made to serve the maximum sentence (of more than 10 years in prison). Calling her soulless and subhuman, Joe Kitchen would describe the depth of his loss, talking about Kiya. “She was my birthday present. She [Marci] gave her to me and she killed her.”
Joe and Marci’s son Javin would also speak, exhaustion and heartbreak in his eyes (even as he maintained his composure before the judge).
“Every time I hear her name or see her face, it hurts my soul. Javin said. “I have to remember that’s my mother, she killed my sister, and relive it again.”
Marci wept openly during his testimony. Javin said his mother asked him to remove evidence (including 7 pound of marijuana trim) from her car. He says she also asked him to lie on her behalf. Javin says she was a great mother before that July night. “That night she was stripped of all right to call me her son. She is no longer my mother.”
Other witnesses would speak up for Marci, speaking to her good character. They said she used to be a shoulder to cry on, and a good mother. Those words meant to help the judge to lessen her sentence.
A friend of twenty-seven years saying, “Marci’s sense of self revolved around her children.”
Another friend, Melanie Johnson (who has known Kitchen for a decade) said Marci is already serving time in a “Unique living hell,” ostracized from her community, and hated by many.
To the end kitchen claimed she initially thought she hit a deer on the night of July 12th, 2016. The judge would say he simply does not believe that claim is true.
It is not yet clear where Marci Kitchen will serve out her sentence. One thing is clear, for all victims, family and friends involved, the end of these court proceedings is a major relief.
