Mom accused of fatally throwing baby off roof appears to be mentally unstable – judge
ST JAMES, Jamaica – Shamoya Green, the woman who allegedly threw her five-month-old daughter off the roof of their home in December 2023 resulting in the child’s death, appears to be mentally unstable, a judge said during a hearing for the accused on Thursday.
Green exhibited signs of disorientation and mental-health issues as she made her way into the courtroom for the hearing in the St James Parish Court.
“Mi pickney dem a call mi now; dem want mi. Mi nuh know why mi a go through this,” said a soft-spoken Green immediately after being placed in the prisoner’s dock.
“Which children are you talking about?” presiding judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton enquired of the accused woman.
“Mi have two pickney, Miss,” answered Green.
“What are their names?” Fairclough-Hylton then asked.
“Mi nuh memba dem name right ya now; a two pickney God bless mi with, and mi want to know what a gwaan; why dem a do this. Why, why why? Dem need mi enuh, dem need mi,” Green said.
“Having read the preliminary report, it appears that she is not mentally stabled, but we are yet to receive the psychiatric evaluation report,” Fairclough-Hylton commented.
Green was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation on March 6 during her initial court appearance before Judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce, during which she suffered an epileptic seizure in the courtroom.
When the matter came before the court on Wednesday, it was revealed that aside from the pending psychiatric evaluation report, other documents had yet to be submitted. 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.
The required documents were still not presented during Thursday’s proceedings. Judge Fairclough-Hylton, however, expressed concerns about the mental assessment report, noting that the hospital had neglected to provide a clear date for when the assessment would be done.
At that moment, Green rose from her seat and attempted to remove her clothes in the full view of the courtroom, but her lawyer, Jillian Haughton, stepped in to prevent her from doing so.
Attorney-at-law Michael Hemmings intervened to offer assistance, informing the court that two specific doctors from the psychiatric department at Cornwall Regional Hospital were available to assist when these circumstances arose. He assured the court that those doctors would make every effort to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. The attorney then excused himself to speak with one of the doctors to inform her about Green’s case, which was greatly appreciated by the court.
While the judge was addressing the mental assessment issue, Green blurted out, “Mi baby a call mi.”
At that point, Haughton informed the court that Green was experiencing frequent blackouts, which heightened the judge’s concern.
“She needs to be assessed, which will take some amount of time, so I am setting it for a month from today. This should give the doctors enough time to get their house in order so that they can conduct the necessary assessments to find out what ailment Miss Green is suffering from and treat her. As it is now, she is not being treated and she will only deteriorate,” Fairclough Hylton said.
The judge then set the matter for mention on May 2 and remanded Green in police custody.
Reports are that about 5:35 pm, Green was at home with her common-law husband and other family members when she asked to have a conversation with her partner about their relationship. However, the man reportedly deferred the talks for later that evening.
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Green allegedly became enraged and left the room, taking her five-month-old daughter Destiny with her. She reportedly took Destiny to the roof on the third floor of the building and threw the child onto the concrete pit in the yard.
The police were alerted and Destiny was taken to the hospital, where she died while being treated.