A Yolo County jury found that Samantha Green Murdered baby Justice Rees
(Woodland, CA) – September 16, 2016 – Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that at 11:15 a.m. today a Yolo County Jury found 23-year-old Woodland woman Samantha Lee Green guilty of second degree murder for the death of her son, Justice Rees, which occurred in February of last year.
The jury heard weeks of testimony including over sixty witnesses, and watched several interviews of Green in a trial that began on August 15, 2016. Deputy District Attorneys Ryan Couzens and Rob Gorman prosecuted the case and presented evidence to the jury that Green got high on methamphetamine and then took her baby to the area of the Ridge Cut Slough in Knights Landing where she searched for her boyfriend whom she suspected of having an affair. Green stayed in the slough area the entire night. The Medical Examiner told the jury that baby Justice died from environmental exposure. Green emerged from the slough the following day after having left baby Justice on the opposite shore. She later tested positive for methamphetamine.
District Attorney Jeff Reisig praised the diligent efforts of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department and Woodland Police Department in investigating the case. Reisig commented that “We are pleased with the dedicated and thoughtful efforts of the jury which resulted in their guilty verdict. However, we must always remember baby Justice and the pain he suffered during that tragic night, as well as the emotional pain suffered by so many others.”
Judge David Rosenberg presided over the trial and will pronounce sentence on November 1, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in Department 14 of the Yolo County Superior Court. Green is facing 15 years-to-life in state prison.
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