A Rancho Bernardo man accused of shooting his estranged wife following a marriage counseling session in a Scripps Ranch business park, then fleeing to Mexico before surrendering at the border, pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge.
Jeremy Adam Green, 40, was ordered held in lieu of $5 million bail in the death of 37-year-old Tressa Green.
Deputy District Attorney Julie Lynn said the couple went to the counseling session about 1 p.m. on June 6 at the defendant’s suggestion.
When it was over about 2 p.m., the victim tried to get in the passenger seat of the defendant’s car, and he went to the trunk and retrieved a shotgun and shot her, Lynn alleged in court.
While his wife was on the ground, the defendant shot her two more times and left her for dead, then fled, the prosecutor alleged. He drove to the border, changed his shirt and put on a baseball cap before walking into Mexico, Lynn said.
Green was arrested June 12 at the San Ysidro border crossing after voluntarily returning from Cancun, Mexico.
Several hours after the slaying, a passer-by found a shotgun underneath a freeway ramp in Marian Bear Park, roughly eight miles from the site of the shooting. Authorities have declined to say if it was the weapon used to killed the mother of three.
The couple had been married since 2005 and had two children together. Tressa Green, who had filed for divorce in April, also had a child from a prior relationship.
Lynn declined to disclose a motive for the slaying.
Judge Peter Deddeh said the $5 million bail was warranted because the murder took planning and the defendant’s alleged actions left the children without a mother. The judge also said the defendant was a flight risk because he has ties to Mexico.
Green faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted. The judge scheduled a June 24 status conference and June 26 preliminary hearing date.
— City News Service
