Nitsa Green’s death in her Vallejo home on Jan. 31 was ruled a suicide, but her family and the city’s mayor have expressed skepticism about that conclusion.
Nitsa Green’s death in her Vallejo home on Jan. 31 was ruled a suicide, but her family and the city’s mayor have expressed skepticism about that conclusion.
On a recent Monday morning, Nitsa Green stopped by her mother’s house in Vallejo to pick up some labels for the dessert catering business she was getting ready to launch. She made an appointment with a bank to open a business account, and later in the day, she texted her mother to let her know she was making dinner, said Green’s mother, Ariadne Green.
A lifelong Vallejo resident, Nitsa Green, 41, lived with her fiance in a “beautiful little home” and was planning to begin fertility treatments with the hope of starting a family, her mother said. Relatives said she seemed happy, and excited about her future. It’s why they and others who knew her were shocked the night of Jan. 31 when she was found dead on her porch.
The coroner’s office determined that cuts on Nitsa Green’s body were “consistent with self-inflicted injuries,” said Deputy Rex Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, which includes the coroner’s office. The office ruled her death a suicide.
But members of Nitsa Green’s family told The Chronicle they do not accept the coroner’s determination and insist that Vallejo police investigate the death thoroughly. They believe Green may have been the victim of a homicide, not only because she appeared to have been upbeat and motivated before her death, relatives said, but also because the scene at her home suggested to them there may have been a struggle.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 to reach a counselor at a locally operated crisis center 24 hours a day for free. You can also text Connect to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor anytime for free.
The disbelief in the coroner’s conclusion was amplified about two weeks later when Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell took to Facebook to post an unusual essay echoing the skepticism felt among Green’s relatives. In his post, he revealed graphic details about her final moments, implied that the county coroner was wrong and suggested that his city’s Police Department failed to properly investigate her death.
McConnell knew Nitsa Green personally. He has been Ariadne Green’s next-door neighbor for decades, and she volunteers as his Facebook page manager, he said.
His 17-paragraph Facebook post from Feb. 15 is titled “It Just Doesn’t Make Sense.” McConnell wrote that there were “large amounts” of blood and bloody footprints throughout the home, furniture was misplaced and Nitsa Green’s mattress was knocked off its frame. He surmised that blood spatter on the walls “indicated major force.” He guessed that her walking through her own blood and onto her back porch “might indicate a plea for help.”
“Because I knew this young woman so well, and because I know how squeamish she was about being cut, and because I know she had many major goals and future plans, I know in my heart that, unlike the words displayed on her death certificate, my friend and former neighbor Ms. Nitsa Green did not do this to herself,” McConnell wrote. “It doesn’t make any sense. It is totally illogical.”
Melissa Nold, a local civil rights attorney and former deputy coroner in Napa County who was contacted by Nitsa Green’s family, said she saw the body at the mortuary and believes it was indeed a suicide. There were no signs of struggle on her body, and there were no footprints in the house other than hers, Nold said.
Nold also called McConnell’s Facebook post inappropriate, saying he made assumptions about the circumstances publicly despite having no investigative background.
McConnell told The Chronicle that his post was based on his conversations with the family and on photos he had seen of Nitsa Green’s home after she died. He said he believes “there were serious questions that were being raised by people who seemed to have information on it” and that he and the family are “in the dark” and “looking for answers.”
Asked whether he was concerned that his comments on Facebook may be undermining the coroner’s office and Vallejo police, McConnell told The Chronicle, “No, I’m merely expressing my take and my view on the matter.”
Hoping to uncover truth, Ariadne Green has hired a forensic pathologist to conduct a full autopsy — the coroner did an external examination of the body, officials said — and she is hoping to hire a private investigator to interview possible witnesses and examine evidence that she said Vallejo police have ignored. Ariadne Green, McConnell and a neighbor said Nitsa Green’s fiance was at work when she was found dead and that he is heartbroken. The family started a GoFundMe to help cover investigative costs.
“We were bonded like no other, and to have this happen is like I lost half of myself. It’s horrible,” said Ariadne Green, still in disbelief. “We’re really looking to get to the bottom of this.”
The family’s skepticism was fueled further when one of Nitsa Green’s neighbors said he had security camera footage showing what appeared to be a man looking at her house in a suspicious manner the night before she died. Vernon Zimmerman, the neighbor, told The Chronicle that he thought the footage showed “a shadow running through the house” in the moments before Green arrived home the morning before her death.
Zimmerman said he disconnected the camera outside his home so that the footage wouldn’t be overwritten and added that he could not retrieve the footage himself. He said he told police they could try to retrieve it, but they have not asked to speak with him, he said.
Nold criticized the Police Department for its handling of the situation, specifically for not communicating enough with Green’s family and not evaluating certain evidence, such as the neighbor’s security footage.
In response to requests for an interview, Vallejo police directed The Chronicle to a news release they issued after Green died in which they stated that the coroner ruled the death a suicide.
Questions about the coroner’s ruling may have begun with a police “watch commander log” that was leaked shortly after Green’s body was found but before police put out their news release, Nold said. The internal report allegedly said that first responders initially thought Green had been stabbed and that police thought the death appeared suspicious, according to Nold and McConnell. Some media outlets reported on it, creating confusion after the coroner ruled the death a suicide, Nold said.
“It brought up a lot of questions,” Ariadne Green said.
Ariadne Green said she hopes an autopsy and independent investigation will provide the clarity and closure the family has been waiting for.
“I’d see her every day, she’d text me three times a day, she’d talk to me in the evening,” Ariadne Green said of her daughter. “She loved me, she loved her sister, she loved (her fiance), she had all these friends, she was loved. And she had everything to look forward to.”
Andy Picon is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: andy.picon@hearst.com Twitter: @andpicon
Andres Picon is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle via the Hearst fellowship program. Previously, he covered education at the San Antonio Express-News, was a reporter and researcher at the Boston Globe and participated in the New York Times Student Journalism Institute. Andres has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. He is a native Spanish speaker and a devoted New York sports fan.
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