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Detroit Mother Pleads Guilty To Killing 8-Year-Old Daughter

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Detroit woman has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing her 8-year-old daughter, a death that occurred weeks after a court official declined to remove the girl from her home.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office says Semeria Greene, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Thursday and will serve at least 23 years in prison before she's considered for parole. The maximum term would be 50 years.

Sentencing is set for April 7.

The Department of Human Services tried to remove Tameria Greene and siblings from their home in late 2012; but court Referee Richard Smart declined, suggesting instead that their mother should move out or place the children elsewhere.

The state didn't appeal and Tameria was killed five weeks later in her house on Larned Street near downtown Detroit.

An autopsy determined that the girl died of a single stab wound to the chest. Her 4-year-old brother told authorities that he witnessed the killing.

Greene had previously had been found incompetent for trial and underwent mental health exams. A judge later reversed that ruling.

The case has lasted more than a year because of the defendant's psychiatric evaluations.

Greene's four remaining children are in the care of the state.

[Catch up on this case]

 

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