In the months before her death, Latricia Green went to court twice to get a personal protection order against her ex-husband, saying he repeatedly interfered with her job at Henry Ford Hospital, showing up without her permission and trying to grab her, calling her job and threatening colleagues and, most recently, breaking into her car at work.
Police say Mario Green shot his 40-year-old ex-wife Latricia Green in the basement of the hospital on Friday, Aug. 22, an area the Free Press learned is a public space that doesn’t require security badge access. It was about a month after a judge granted her the PPO against her ex-husband.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office charged him Monday, Aug. 25 with first-degree murder and several other charges including aggravated stalking. After a manhunt, police took Green, 53, into custody at 3 a.m. Aug 23. He was remanded to jail after his arraignment late Monday afternoon.
A second man, Anthony Lee-Lamont Barnett, 54, of Detroit, was charged in connection with the fatal shooting, accused of fleeing from the scene of the homicide, Worthy’s office said. He was charged with being an accessory after the fact and lying to a police officer. An attorney for both men could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Most people have had failed relationships of one kind or another,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a release. “The result has never been violence, but unfortunately deadly violence is the remedy for some individuals. We stand with the family, friends, and coworkers of Ms. Green and will work hard to make sure justice is done.”
Latricia Green wrote in her July 20 personal protection order (PPO) petition that she “constantly” had to look over her shoulder to make sure her ex-husband wasn’t following her, like he’d done in the past. On July 1, Green said he broke into her car at the Detroit hospital − where she worked for 20 years − and cut up clothing and stole belongings. A month before that, she said he continued to call her work and threatened to meet her colleagues outside. On April 18, she said Mario Green showed up at her job and refused to leave.
“I am asking for help before this goes too far, and things are too late,” she wrote in her July 20 petition. Wayne County Judge Carla Testani granted the PPO a day later. WXYZ-TV first reported on the PPOs.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has no record of Latricia Green contacting the sheriff’s office to ask to serve the PPO, according to spokesperson Mara MacDonald. Family members of Latricia Green could not be reached as of Monday afternoon.
Latricia Green had previously sought a PPO but Testani denied it June 16, noting that it failed to establish specific facts and the allegations didn’t meet the burden of proof. In a June 13 petition, she asked the court to grant a PPO barring Mario Green from entering a property with the same address as Henry Ford Hospital, interfering with her at her workplace and following her.
“Since I was denied, he has been able to break into my car and cut up my clothes, shoes and steal belongings from me,” she wrote in her subsequent petition.
She said she noticed him following her on July 19.
“I have tried being cordial because I feel that the system has now let me down each time that I have tried to make reports on this man. My father was murdered and now with this situation I am now in mental distress and scared not knowing what to do where I have PTSD of this whole situation,” she wrote on July 20.
A Wayne County Circuit Court spokesperson in a statement Aug. 25 said the court is aware of the public interest but said the court only speaks through written orders and does not comment on pending or active matters.
Detroit Police Department Chief Todd Bettison said on Aug. 22 that Green reportedly got in an argument with his former spouse, who at some point pulled out a firearm, shooting her multiple times and killing her.
Latricia Green was hired at Henry Ford Health in 2005, and most recently worked as a scheduler in the nursing department, said Dana Jay, a spokesperson for the Detroit-based hospital system.
The basement level of the hospital, where Green was killed, is a public space that doesn’t require security-badge access, Jay said.
“There are several clinics and other public-facing services on that level,” she said.
The health system issued the following statement on Aug. 25:
“We are heartbroken by the loss of Latricia Green, our beloved Henry Ford Health team member for more than 20 years. At Henry Ford Health we are family, and we are hurting. We recognize that while this attack was targeted, a deep emotional impact is rippling across our workforce and our community. We continue to cooperate with the Detroit Police Department investigation,” the statement reads.
“At the same time, our own internal investigation into how this violence made its way into our place of healing is underway. We are committed to scrutinizing our security measures and taking meaningful steps to enhance the safety and security of our facilities.”
Confidential counseling services are available for employees.
“We also acknowledge the difficult reality of domestic violence and encourage our team members to take advantage of internal resources and members of the community to utilize the national domestic violence hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE or texting “START” TO 88788,” the statement went on to say.
Latricia Green’s fate is an unfortunate example of several systematic flaws in the way domestic violence cases are treated in Michigan, according to advocates like Johanna Kononen, the director of law and policy at the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“Ms. Green did everything we as a society ask of victims. She asked for help. She begged for help. She went to court, she said ‘please help me.’ … She did everything right, and she still paid the ultimate price,” Kononen said.
Despite the court agreeing with Green and issuing the PPO against her ex, that court order was never served to him. In most states, it’s a requirement that PPOs are served for victims at no cost — but not in Michigan. The burden lies on the victim to facilitate service.
“We should not be one of only a handful of states that does not provide for free service of civil protection orders. That should be a priority of our legislature,” Kononen said.
Victims can ask the court to prohibit a perpetrator from purchasing a gun, but that’s not also guaranteed and is yet another hurdle for victims, she said.
But even if there was PPO served, the reality is there is usually little or no enforcement of those personal protection orders by law enforcement, said Jeni Hooper, the interim executive director at First Step, an organization based in Wayne County that serves victims of domestic and sexual violence.
That’s because it starts as a civil order, she said. It only becomes criminal until there’s a violation, and that relies on the victim to report it, which is yet another barrier, she said.
Hooper says the way the system functions places the burden on victims and with a lack of understanding of the dynamics of abuse.
Both Hooper and Kononen pointed to a lack of resources and support for victims on the court level to help them navigate the system and make them aware of everything they can do to protect themselves. Some courts have court-appointed advocates, but more is needed, they both said.
And there’s a lack of intervention and accountability when it comes to the perpetrators, Hooper said.
Nationally, over two thirds of intimate partner violence homicides are firearm related, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. And 77% percent of victims are women.
Data also shows much of domestic violence towards women in Michigan are firearm related. Domestic violence overall has increased since 2022, and Hooper said she sees more women who are being killed by their partners.
“Domestic violence is about power and control,” Kononen said.
Mario Green had previous criminal convictions. Green pleaded guilty to aggravated stalking in 2001, receiving more than five years probation on the felony charge, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He completed probation after four years, according to the state. State records do not indicate who he stalked.
Green received a maximum of 7.5 years in prison in 2012 after pleading guilty to a felony arson charge and as someone previously convicted of a felony, according to state records. The Wayne County court system indicated he received a shorter sentence on this conviction. He served just over three years in prison, according to the department of corrections. He was paroled in January 2010 and discharged from parole in July 2012.
In 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of failure to pay child support. In 2022 he paid a fine and received three years probation, according to state and local records. He was discharged from probation in June.
Staff writer Dave Boucher contributed to this report.
Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@freepress.com.