Verdict for Calif. mom in death of baby found in swamp

WOODLAND, Calif. -- The mother of an infant found dead near the Sacramento River has been convicted of murder in the death of her son.

The Sacramento Bee reports that a Yolo County jury convicted 25-year-old Samantha Green Friday of second-degree murder in the death of 20-day-old Justice Rees.

Green and her child were both reported missing Feb. 21, 2015 when they didn’t arrive for a family event, reports CBS Sacramento.

Green was found wandering and disoriented two days later near the rural town of Knights Landing, about 30 miles west of Sacramento. She told a man who lived nearby to call 911 and that her baby was dead, the station reports. The baby’s body was discovered after an all-night search in the swampy River Cut Slough.

Prosecutors initially charged Green with involuntary manslaughter. They later elevated the charge to second-degree murder and a potential 15-years-to-life sentence, telling jurors she was high on methamphetamine when she wandered into the slough. They said she killed the child in a fit of drug-fueled hysteria, reports CBS Sacramento.

Yolo County Public Defender Tracie Olson told jurors that Green did not intend to kill Justice.