WOODLAND — The circumstances surrounding the death of Woodland infant Justice Rees will be aired in a Yolo County courtroom in early November, nearly eight months after the baby’s body was found on the bank of a Knights Landing slough.
Justice’s mother Samantha Lee Green, 23, faces charges of murder and child endangerment in connection with the death, which occurred in late February. She has pleaded not guilty.
During a court hearing Thursday, Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case to begin on Nov. 2, continuing each afternoon that week until testimony is complete.
At that time, prosecutors are expected to reveal the evidence they believe supports the charges against Green, who according to court documents had been using methamphetamine and marijuana in the days before she took 3-week-old Justice to Ridge Cut Slough on the night of Feb. 23.
A distraught, disheveled Green emerged alone from the slough area the following day, claiming to have been abducted along with her child — a story she later admitted was bogus, court papers say. Justice’s body was found hours later following an all-night search.
Yolo County coroner’s officials have yet to release the baby’s cause of death.
Relatives of Justice’s father, Frank Rees, have acknowledged that Justice was born with methamphetamine in his system, but that he and Green tested clean and had created a family “safety plan” with child welfare workers prior to the baby being released from the hospital.
Rees, 29, continues to face charges in connection with the alleged discovery of methamphetamine, a drug pipe and ammunition inside his Woodland home during the investigation into Justice’s death. He is not a suspect in Justice’s death.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene