SCHENECTADY – Latrisha Greene, the one-time foster mother whose husband Dequan Greene was convicted of murdering foster child Charlie Garay – has now been indicted herself, on perjury charges, Schenectady County District Attorney’s officials said.
Latrisha Greene, 27, of Rotterdam, was arraigned this week on an indictment charging her with five counts of first-degree perjury, felonies, and two counts of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, officials said.
She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Latrisha Greene is accused of lying about multiple points during Schenectady County Family Court testimony concerning her own children taken from her as a result of the murder of foster child 4-year-old Charlie Garay.
Dequan Greene was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges in Charlie’s death. Judge Matthew Sypniewski sentenced him earlier this month to the maximum term, 25 years to life in prison, calling Dequan Greene “a sociopath.”
Family Court had removed Latrisha Greene’s biological children from her custody after finding that their safety would be in imminent risk of harm if they were not removed from her care, prosecutors said.
Judge Matthew Sypniewski, left, imposes sentence on defendant Dequan Greene, right, with Greene’s attorney James Tyner, center, at Dequan Greene’s Dec. 6 sentencing. STAN HUDY/THE DAILY GAZETTE
The perjury indictment comes as a grand jury accused her of lying five times in proceedings held Aug. 31 of this year, prosecutors said.
She is accused of testifying falsely denying sending a text message to her husband stating “no more bruises we need them to heal”.
She’s then accused of falsely denying she sent another text message to Dequan Greene that she had seen Dequan Greene’s handprint on the face of one of her biological children, prosecutors said.
The third, fourth and fifth perjury charges allege she falsely testified that, to her knowledge, her husband had never caused bruising to that child, caused bruising to Charlie or Charlie’s 5-year-old brother, also a foster child.
The child endangerment counts relate to accusations related to Charlie and his brother, alleging she “engaged in a course of conduct likely to be injurious to the welfare of” Charlie and his brother. They were placed with her Sept. 25, 2020 and Charlie was murdered Dec. 20, 2020.
“The People’s theory of the case is that Greene and her husband both physically abused the boys and Greene used the COVID pandemic and other excuses to prevent foster care service providers from discovering the children’s physical injuries,” prosecutors said in a release. “Later, Greene intentionally attempted to mislead the Schenectady County Family Court judge about her knowledge of and participation in the abuse to regain custody of her own children and avoid responsibility for her conduct.”
Latrisha Greene earlier faced the child endangerment counts alone. Initially, she’d also faced an evidence tampering count, but that was later dismissed.
In the murder case against Dequan Greene, prosecutors proved to the jury at trial that Dequan Greene murdered Charlie by stomping on his chest and Dequan Greene then attempted to cover it up by not calling 911. He eventually claimed to first responders that the child became unresponsive after falling out of a toddler chair.
Prosecutors argued Charlie and his older brother, who was 5 at the time, were both subjected to months of abuse that began just weeks after the brothers were placed in the care of Dequan and Latrisha Greene by Albany Child Protective Services. The Greenes were certified foster parents who cared for three children of their own.
At her arraignment this week, Latrisha Greene was released on her own recognizance as none of the offenses charged were eligible for bail, prosecutors said. She continues to manage Ebenezer’s Dream Care Center in Glenville, where prosecutors said she provides “drop in” childcare services and operates a preschool academy.
The case was investigated by the Rotterdam Police Department, Schenectady County Child Protective Services, New York State Police Computer Forensic Laboratory and Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office Investigators.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Nobles is prosecuting. Latrisha Greene is represented by attorney Danielle Neroni. Neroni could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
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Throw the book at this scum