‘This is not her first time having suicidal tendencies’
Judge concerned about mental state of woman accused of killing infant daughter
Published:Thursday | April 4, 2024 | 12:11 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A ST JAMES Parish Court judge has voiced concern about whether Shamoya Green’s case could be committed for trial in the Circuit Court given the defendant’s mental- health status.
Green is accused of fatally throwing her five-month-old daughter off the roof of their home in December 2023.
Presiding parish judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton expressed the concern yesterday when Green’s case, where she is charged with the murder of her infant daughter Destiny Brown, was mentioned in court.
Green, who is currently in police custody, was not present as she had not been brought for yesterday’s proceedings.
“This is a matter where Ms Green has been in custody since at least February when she was released into the care of police officers, and I believe it is a matter for us to know her mental status and if it will be tried at a different level. At this stage, the matter is on my committal proceedings list, which is to decide whether or not a prima facie [self-obvious] case has been made out,” Fairclough-Hylton commented.
“Having read the preliminary report, this is the matter of a mother that threw her child from a three-storey building on to a concrete pit below and then attempted to take her [own] life. Based on the preliminary report, this is not a matter that it is the first time that she has had such suicidal tendencies,” Fairclough-Hylton added.
The judge made her comments after being informed that although a request had previously been made to the Cornwall Regional Hospital’s psychiatric department for Green to be assessed, no date for that assessment had yet been set.
Epileptic seizure in court
A psychiatric assessment was previously ordered for Green on March 6 during her first court appearance before Judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce.
At that time, Green had an epileptic seizure in open court and also displayed disorientation and mental-health challenges, necessitating the intervention of court officers and other bystanders.
The court was also told yesterday that in addition to the outstanding mental-health assessment, several other documents are currently outstanding from the prosecution’s case-file. Those documents include an assessor’s report regarding a witness to the alleged incident as well as the post-mortem report and the scene-of-crime statement.
Meanwhile, attorney-at-law Chumu Parris, who represented the absent Green on behalf of her assigned lawyer, Jillian Haughton, questioned whether Green’s current custody arrangement would allow her to receive her necessary treatment.
“The question arises as to whether where she [Green] is, is the best place that she can get help, given her health status,” Parris remarked.
The matter is set to continue this morning, at which time Green is expected to be brought to court and it will be determined whether attorney Haughton will make a bail application on the defendant’s behalf.
Allegations are that on December 6, 2023, at about 5:35 p.m., Green was at home with her common-law husband and other family members in Barrett Hall, Lilliput, St James, when she tried to have a conversation with the man about their relationship. However, he put off the talks to later that evening.
Green reportedly became enraged and left the room, taking baby Destiny with her. She then took the child to the roof of the third floor of the family’s house and threw her on to the concrete pit in the yard.
The police were alerted, and Destiny was taken to the hospital, where she died while being treated.