One-time foster mother Latrisha Greene, whose husband Dequan Greene was convicted of killing her 4-year-old foster child Charlie Garay, has been charged with perjury herself. Schenectady County district attorney officials announced these charges on Tuesday.
Officials said Latrisha Greene, 27, of Rotterdam, was arrested this week on five counts of first-degree perjury, felonies, and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Despite being charged with multiple offenses, she pleaded not guilty to them all.
In her Schenectady County Family Court testimony, Latrisha Greene is accused of lying about multiple points regarding her own children taken from her after foster child 4-year-old Charlie Garay was killed.
Charlie’s killer, Dequan Greene, was convicted of second-degree murder and other crimes. In a recent sentencing decision, Judge Matthew Sypniewski called Dequan Greene a “sociopath” and sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison.
As a result of a Family Court decision, the biological children of Latrisha Greene were removed from her custody because their safety would be at risk if they remained in her care.
Prosecutors claim she lied five times in proceedings held Aug. 31 of this year, leading to the perjury indictment. During her deposition, she is accused of falsely denying sending a text message to her husband saying “no more bruises, we need them to heal”.
According to prosecutors, she then falsely denied that she sent a text message to Dequan Greene claiming that she had seen his handprint mark on one of her biological children.
A third, fourth, and fifth perjury charge alleges she falsely testified that, to her knowledge, her husband had never caused bruising to her foster child, Charlie or to Charlie’s 5-year-old brother.
Child endangerment counts relate to Charlie and his brother, alleging that she engaged in conduct likely to harm their welfare.
September 25, 2020, marks the date of the children’s placement with her. Just a few months later, Charlie was murdered on December 20, 2020.
Prosecutors proved to the jury at trial that Dequan Greene stomped on Charlie’s chest, murdered him, and then attempted to cover it up by not calling 911. When first responders arrived, he said the child had fallen out of a toddler chair and became unresponsive.
Charlie and his older brother, who was 5 at the time, were abused for months after Albany Child Protective Services placed them in the care of Dequan and Latrisha Greene. The Greenes were certified foster parents, despite their life-threatening abuse of the kids.