Toni Elizabeth Torres

Case record: Toni Elizabeth Torres

Background

Toni Elizabeth Torres was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She was under a psychiatrist’s care at the time of the 2003 drowning death of her 17-month-old son.

Torres had a master’s degree in psychology and once worked as a counselor for troubled youths.

Court records showed Torres had appeared before District Judge Robert Haney requesting a release on multiple occasions. Torres had requested to be released on day passes or similar situations on four occasions since November 2006. In all four requests, including the request dated June 8, the state objected to her release, according to District Attorney Eddie Wyant.

In August 2010, District Judge Robert Haney allowed Torres out to attend the August 2010 funeral of her son Brandon Wayne McKibben, 17, who died after being electrocuted.

On a county intake sheet filled out Aug. 23, 2003, Torres wrote:

“God shed his blood for me. All they do is ask me, and I will tell them the truth, even if it sounds crazy. I won't let people corrupt my spirit with the law. Amen.”

On that intake sheet, under the space for a defendant’s name, Torres wrote: “God”. Under legal guardian, she wrote: “God ”

The offence

On August 21, 2003, Toni Elizabeth Torres, 29, of Quapaw, Oklahoma, went to a remote area and climbed into Spring River holding her 17-month-old son, Alex, and holding onto the hand of her 10-year-old son, Christopher.

As she went deeper into the water, she let go of Christopher’s hand. Christopher managed to get back to the shore and started screaming.

Torres continued to swim into the middle of the channel. There, she pushed the toddler away, watched him briefly bob up and down, and then swam to the opposite shore.

Torres had said she killed the infant because “God told her to let her son go in the water.”

Investigation

A fisherman who was on the river at the time called 9-1-1 after hearing the children scream.

Authorities reported that a blood test revealed the presence of Diazepam, an anti-anxiety medication.

Torres was described as having confessed to authorities when she was arrested, saying: “God told me to do it.”

Arrest

Torres confessed to authorities when she was arrested, saying: “God told me to do it.”

Trial

In 2004, District Judge Robert Haney declared the Quapaw woman insane on a first-degree murder charge.

Sentencing

In 2004, Haney declared Torres insane on a first-degree murder charge.

Later, District Judge Robert Haney signed an order Thursday (reported in an article dated August 12, 2011) allowing Torres to leave a mental hospital. The order ruled that Torres was not a danger to society. Haney stated:

“She is still under the control of the state Department of Mental Health,” Haney said Friday. “She is not allowed to be unsupervised with children.”

Becky Baird, Ottawa County assistant district attorney, said Torres was no longer being housed at the Oklahoma Forensic Center and would be sent to a residential halfway home outside of Ottawa County.

Outcome

Alex Torres’ body was found submerged in about 20 feet of water in Spring River, about four miles north of Twin Bridges State Park in northern Ottawa County on Aug. 21, 2003.

The report also stated that Torres was found on a riverbank, and her son Brandon, who was 10 at the time, was found sitting on an opposite side of the river screaming for help.

On the legal outcome, Torres was “found insane in 2004.”

Other details

Torres’ ability to be released was contested in multiple instances after 2006. The state objected to her release in all four requests since November 2006, including the request dated June 8, according to District Attorney Eddie Wyant.

Torres’ statement to investigators described the toddler as clinging to her as she waded across the river. She pushed the child away to save herself, making no effort to save him from drowning.