Kendra Deanna Greene (left) lived with schizophrenia and though medication was effective, she stopped taking it before becoming pregnant with her daughter, Princess, said her mother, Deion Greene (right). (Mugshot: Palm Beach County Jail; screenshot: WPBF)
The woman who stabbed three hospital workers while taking her ailing baby from a newborn intensive care unit needs help, not prison, her mother says.
Kendra Deanna Greene, 31, was diagnosed with schizophrenia three years ago and though medication was effective, she stopped taking it before becoming pregnant with the newborn, Deion Greene told West Palm Beach ABC affiliate WPBF. Her daughter’s mental health significantly declined by the time she was 41 weeks pregnant, well past her due date, Deion Greene said.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Kendra Greene arrived at the Palms West Hospital in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Thursday. Her newborn daughter — now identified by the grandmother as Princess — was in the NICU for underdeveloped lungs.
Deion Greene said she had since learned her daughter believed Princess was in danger.
“She said the hospital kidnapped her baby, and she’s going to get her baby one way or another from the hospital,” the grandmother reportedly said.
One of the staffers described Kendra Greene, in the words of the probable cause affidavit, “violently” removing the breathing device from the baby’s mouth, the central line from the stomach, the feeding tube, and other devices that worked to keep the baby alive.
Kendra Greene allegedly shoved that staffer and slashed three others by using “a large, serrated kitchen knife,” striking one in the right forearm, another in the right hand, and a third on the right side of the neck.
She managed to flee the hospital with Princess, deputies said.
“Fortunately, Kendra dropped off the baby with a family member so the baby was safely transported back to the hospital by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and is currently in stable condition,” authorities wrote. “All three staff members received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and were discharged the same evening.”
Deion Greene told WPBF she will care for Princess once the hospital discharges the baby, hopefully next week.
Kendra Greene is being held at the Main Detention Center in Palm Beach County, Florida, for aggravated child abuse, battery, resisting an officer without violence, and two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She is held on a $302,000 bond.
Deion Greene said she had previously tried to seek help from hospitals and law enforcement about her daughter’s deteriorating mental condition. She checked her daughter into the Palms West Hospital on July 7. Kendra Greene suffered two mental breakdowns, she said.
“She’s like, ‘I hate you!”” Deion Greene said. “And she starts screaming and crying like a mad person at the top of her voice.”
Her daughter’s “hormones are double raging” because she was past her due date, Deion Greene said.
She also compared the incident to a bomb exploding.
“And that’s what happened,” Deion Greene said. “She exploded.”
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Deion Greene said her daughter is not a criminal, but just needs help.
“When people do stuff like that, you don’t lock them up in prison,” she said. “Prison is not the place. She needs to go to a psych hospital.”
Kendra Greene’s attorney, Shelby K. Smith, declined to discuss the charges on Monday, telling Law&Crime that the public defender’s office does not comment on ongoing cases.
Records show that a hearing is set for Aug. 14.
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