St James woman accused of killing her baby gets new court date

WESTERN BUREAU:

The case against Shamoya Green, the St James woman who reportedly threw her infant daughter off the roof of their home in Lilliput, St James, causing her death, is scheduled to go before the St James Circuit Court on November 13.

The case was originally slated for November 5 but was delayed because of the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael, which impacted the island earlier this week, as no court sittings could be held on that day.

It is expected that a fitness to plea hearing will take place in the Circuit Court to determine if Green, who is represented by attorney Jillian Haughton, is fit to stand trial, as she suffers from mental challenges and seizures.

The result of a medical report which was shared at the St James Parish Court on September 4 indicated that she suffers from a seizure disorder with resulting psychosis, and that she was unfit to enter a plea as her mental state had not improved in the months prior to that date.

During the last mention of Green’s case in the St James Parish Court on September 30, when a committal hearing was held to transfer her case to the Circuit Court, presiding judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton noted that the higher court’s trial judge would have to determine whether Green will attend that fitness to plea hearing in person or via the Zoom platform.

Concerns have been raised in previous court sittings about the difficulty of transporting Green from the South Camp Road Adult Correctional Facility in Kingston, where she is currently in custody, because of her physical and mental health challenges. Notably, Green herself was not physically present at the September 30 committal hearing, with that procedure taking place via Zoom to facilitate her.

The allegations in the case against Green are that, on December 6, 2023, at about 5:35 p.m., she was at home with her common-law husband and other family members when she tried to have a conversation with the man about their relationship, but he refused to engage her.

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 a concrete pit in the yard. The police were summoned and Destiny was taken to hospital where she died while being treated.