Samantha Green and her infant son Justice Rees came to the attention of Yolo County’s Department of Employment and Social Services following the baby’s birth, said county officials who confirmed Monday the existence of records on file with the agency.
The department includes a child welfare services division, which according to the county’s website “serves children … who are suspected to be endangered by abuse, neglect or exploitation or shall be eligible for initial intake and evaluation of risk services.”
Justice’s paternal grandmother, Patty Rees, has told multiple news outlets the baby had methamphetamine in his system when he was born on Feb. 5, but the family had developed a “safety plan” with child welfare workers before he was sent home from the hospital.
The Davis Enterprise has filed a California Public Records Act request for copies of the Social Services documents, which are being reviewed by the County Counsel’s Office to determine what information can be legally released.
Beth Gabor, Yolo County’s public information officer, said the Employment and Social Services Department “has provided services to this family and does have related records. … We will release what we can as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, both parents of the deceased Woodland infant remain in Yolo County Jail custody, following father Frank Rees’ arrest Sunday on warrants unrelated to his son’s death.
Rees, 29, is being held in lieu of $120,000 bail on the misdemeanor warrants — two from Yolo County charging him with driving on a suspended license and without vehicle insurance, and one from Lake County alleging child endangerment, impaired driving and driving on a suspended license, jail staff said.
Unless he posts bail, Rees will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Yolo Superior Court’s Department 9 — the same place, date and time as his fiancée, Green, who is due for arraignment on suspicion of murder in connection with Justice’s death.
The 3-week-old infant’s body was discovered shortly before 10 a.m. last Wednesday along the bank of Ridge Cut Slough in Knights Landing, some 17 hours after a hysterical Green surfaced nearby, claiming she and her son had been abducted the day before.
Yolo County sheriff’s detectives investigating the case were unable to substantiate her story, however, and arrested Green on suspicion of murder at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
Green “was the sole person responsible for the death of her child,” Sheriff Ed Prieto said. The 23-year-old is being held without bail.
In an jailhouse interview Sunday with News10, Green said she believes “I was drugged or given bad drugs the night this happened.” She perceived that someone had taken her against her will and was continuing to chase her, which is why she ventured into the slough area.
“My main goal that day was just to keep my baby safe,” Green told the television station. But when she realized her infant had died — she believes due to the cold — she left Justice’s body behind out of fear that she, too, would die if she didn’t seek help.
Green also professed to having battled depression during and after her pregnancy but recalled being in good spirits the day she went missing.
Frank Rees has issued statements in support of Green, as have the woman’s father and stepmother, Randy and Laurie Green, who offered the following statement to The Enterprise on Sunday:
“We love our daughter so very much. Our family is grieving not only for the loss of our grandson Justice, but also the possible loss of our daughter Sami Green,” the couple wrote.
“We know in our heart that Sami would never do anything to intentionally harm her newborn son Justice. She loved him very much. We can only hope for a fair and just trial in Sami’s case.”
The couple declined to comment this morning on the report of Samantha Green’s alleged methamphetamine use.
Sheriff’s officials have not disclosed whether they believe drugs were a factor in the events leading up to Justice’s death. Green has no criminal history other than traffic tickets.
Yolo Superior Court records show that Rees faced felony grand theft and forgery charges back in 2010, when he was arrested for allegedly stealing $3,450 worth of firearms from his 71-year-old father, forged several of his checks and stole jewelry that he later pawned for $250.
He pleaded no contest to two grand theft charges and received a two-year state prison term, which was suspended in order to allow Rees to enter into a drug treatment program with the California Rehabilitation Center, according to the case file.
“This court now finds that said defendant is a narcotics addict, or by reason of repeated use of narcotics, is in imminent danger of being addicted to narcotics,” says the Oct. 29, 2010, court order for Rees’ commitment to the CRC.
Records show that Rees was dismissed from the program in early January 2013, after which the felony case was dismissed. The warrants for his arrest were issued in July and August last year after he failed to appear in court for the alleged driving violations in Woodland and Lakeport.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
