After a three-day investigation, a Detroit mother has been charged with the stabbing of her 8-year-old daughter. Police were called to the home of Semeria Aminita Greene early Sunday morning, and found her daughter Tameria Greene bleeding on her back, having been stabbed once in the chest. She was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital.
Reports revealed that a neglect/abuse case against Semeria Greene regarding Tameria and her four other children was pending in family court at the time of the murder. Greene was charged with felony murder carrying a mandatory sentence of life in prison, and first-degree child abuse, which has a maximum sentence of 15 years.
“This is only the second day of the year and we are charging a parent with a child homicide,” Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy told the press. “This is case is made even more profoundly sad because today would have been Tameria’s ninth birthday.”
Detroit’s 7 Action News reported that Child Protective Services records described the Greene’s household situation as in “complete disarray.” Semeira’s sister told protective services workers that Semeira “prostitutes” and had a “substance abuse problem.” In October of last year social workers reported that they had found scratches bruises and bite marks on Tameria.
Michigan Department of Human Services director Maura D. Corrigan issued a statement on Wednesday, describing the measures by which the department had tried to protect Tameria from her mother.
“Following the tragic death of Tameria Greene, I ordered an expedited, comprehensive review of this case from the Office of Family Advocate, a centralized unit within the Department for reviewing complaints about the handling of child welfare cases,” Corrigan’s statement read.
“DHS acted on the concerns reported by Tameria’s family, friends and neighbors, including petitioning the court for removal of the children from the home dating back to 2010. Most recently, DHS petitioned the court on Nov. 28, unsuccessfully, to remove Tameria and her siblings from their mother’s care. DHS continued to provide court-ordered counseling services to the family as well as conducting in-home visits, the last of which occurred only two days before Tameria’s death. We share the grief felt by her loved ones and her community.”
