CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Tabitha Head has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the September 7, 2023, voluntary manslaughter of Brian Kiser at the 11th Street Parking Garage. Four years were suspended, leaving an active sentence of six years. Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude V. Worrell also placed the Lebanon, VA, woman on three years of supervised probation and 10 years of good behavior.

Head and Kiser, who both hailed from Russell County, had travelled together to UVA Medical Center while Kiser’s father was recovering from surgery. According to Kiser’s mother, Pauline Salyers, the two had recently been dating.

Head, 47, gave officers who were dispatched to the attack bizarre statements. One was that Kiser had killed her entire family and was trying to electrocute her. She also claimed that Kiser was trying to push her out the window, knife in hand, which she pushed back at him as she tried to get away.

Instead, Head was charged with thrusting the knife into Kiser’s upper chest near his collar bone, which caused a fatal hemorrhage. She chose to plead guilty on March 8, 2024.

“There is no greater grief than that of a mother having to bury her child,” Salyers said during Head’s presentencing hearing.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania stated “[S]adly, nothing can bring Brian back, but hopefully Ms. Salyers and her family will over time be able to heal and move forward.”