Pearl man gets life sentence for kidnapping, attempting to kill wife ​

The Clarion-Ledger

Richard Lamar Green will go to prison for life plus 30 years after a jury found him guilty this week of kidnapping and attempting to murder his wife, Madison-Rankin District Attorney Michael Guest announced Thursday.

Richard Lamar Green

On Oct. 1, 2014, the Pearl Police Department received a 911 call that Green had attacked his wife and she was in need of immediate medical help. Police responded to 403 Ivy Court, where they found Cathy Green lying on the floor of the family room bleeding profusely.

Police and emergency personnel began to treat her and saw she had been struck numerous times in the head with what later was determined to be a machete. Police noticed that one of her fingers had been severed during the attack. She was taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center where she was treated for a traumatic brain injury.

More:Hinds County DA faces domestic violence, stalking, robbery charges

Richard Green had fled in a silver GMC Envoy with the couple's 4-year-old child. Pearl police contacted the Mississippi Highway Patrol, and an Amber Alert was issued for the missing child.

A truck driver, who had received the alert, contacted law enforcement to report spotting Richard Green’s vehicle at a truck stop in Bogue Chitto. The caller told law enforcement Green was traveling toward Louisiana.

MHP notified the Pike County Sheriff’s Department, which was able to stop and apprehend Green before he crossed into Louisiana. The child was found in the back of the vehicle unharmed.

Green was taken to Rankin County and interviewed by Pearl Police Department investigators. Green admitted to law enforcement that he and his wife had gotten into an argument at their home. He told officers he retrieved a machete from his vehicle and re-entered the home where he forced his wife to the family room and struck her multiple times with the machete.

"Green is a violent and abusive individual who viciously attacked his wife in the presence of their 4-year-old child," Madison-Rankin District Attorney Michael Guest said in a news release, “Because of the combined efforts of the Pearl Police Department, Mississippi Department of Public Safety, the Pike County Sheriff’s Department and the Brookhaven Police Department, Green will now spend the remainder of his life behind bars.”

“Cathy Green has used this tragic event in her life to educate and help others who may be involved in violent domestic relationships. Since her attack she has volunteered her time in domestic violence shelters and crisis centers and has spoken to numerous groups sharing the story of her life. Cathy has also been awarded the Image of Resilience Award by the Mississippi Coalition against Domestic Violence,” Guest added.

Green has numerous misdemeanor convictions of domestic assault or domestic violence. Court records show Green was previously convicted of domestic battery in Las Vegas in 1996, domestic assault in Biloxi in 2002 and domestic assault in Harrison County in 2005.