DETROIT (WXYZ) — Mario Green’s murder case was bound over to circuit court. On Thursday, that decision was made after three hours of testimony in Judge Shawn Jacque's 36th District courtroom.
The 53-year-old is accused of killing his ex-wife Latricia Brown, 40, at her job at Henry Ford Hospital on Aug. 22.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report below:
Brown’s cousins, Deonda and Dia Easley, told 7 News Detroit they left court feeling overwhelmed after learning new details.
"It's the beginning of justice for us. It's the beginning of a long battle of acceptance, processing what happened to her,” Deonda Easley said.
Brown divorced Green in 2018.
On the stand, one of her co-workers recalled Green's interaction with the victim seconds before the shooting.
“He was just asking her questions like, ‘Oh, I need help with a bill. Can you come out to the hall? And she was working and answering his questions,’” the witness said.
When asked by the prosecutor what happened next, the witness replied, “I heard a gunshot."
The prosecution played a clip they say shows Green walking toward Brown's office in the basement before the shooting.
Then, eight minutes later, the man is seen running away with a gun in his right hand.
Brown's co-worker, who said they didn't see where the shot came from, called 911.
The prosecutor asked, “Where was Trish?”
“In the room with me on the floor dead,” the witness replied.
Coincidentally, the officer in charge of the case, Eisaac Llamas, testified that he happened to be at the hospital already.
"I was investigating a homicide that happened a couple hours prior and I was in the ambulance bay getting ready to leave the location when the shooting occurred,” he explained.
Llamas said he started searching the building for the suspect. But by then, Green had already left.
Green shouldn't have been there in the first place. The 40-year-old victim had filed multiple personal protection orders against him for stalking and vandalism.
Previous coverage: Last month, hospital shooting victim sought protection from ex 'before this goes too far'
Officer-worn body camera footage played in court showed Green at her job in April.
“What's going on with you? I'm talking to you,” an officer is heard asking Green.
He replied, “She called you. Don't talk to me because I didn't call you. She called you.”
The officer stated, “So, what you doing over here?”
Green replied, “I come see her if I choose to come see her. Why are you bothering me?
The officer called for backup and then followed Green upstairs out the exit.
Green shouted at a group of officers, “That's my wife!"
An officer stated, “You can't come up here and threaten her.”
“I didn't threaten her though,” Green replied.
A judge denied Brown’s PPO request in June, but a PPO was approved in July. However, it was never served.
Previous coverage: ‘Save other women': Family of slain hospital worker pleads to change Michigan's PPO law
After Brown's murder, Green was on the run. That sparked a large-scale manhunt. His car was spotted in Northwest Detroit hours after the shooting, however, he was arrested early the next morning on the city's east side.
Green's defense attorney, Brian Berry, maintains his client's innocence and called the police investigation "shoddy".
"I don't see how we get to Mr. Green as being the shooter or that he was stalking or that he was there without consent,” Berry told the judge.
Previous coverage: Ex-husband, another man charged in deadly shooting at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit
Deonda Easley told 7 News Detroit, “Latricia didn't deserve what happened to her at all, and our prayer is that no one else, no other family has to go through what we went through and that Latricia's words will be received and heard and justice will be served."
Dia Easley said, "We're still seeing cases like this. So, people need to know that the justice system is going to work in the victim's favor. So, we are grateful for what they're doing, and we just asked that they do the same amount of work as if it's their family."
Green is due back in court Dec. 26.
