Arrest in Daytona Beach

The murder investigation moved quickly to locate Green, aided by tracking down his and White’s cellphones. It was discovered that White’s device was used to text her employer, not specified in the records, on Dec. 31 and again on Jan. 1. First, a text reported her absence from work because her mom had a heart attack, and the next day’s message reported her mother’s death, along with a request for a paycheck advance.

“In actuality, Lauren White’ s mother did not suffer a heart attack or die as stated in the text messages,” wrote Detective Stephen Ultsh, adding that it was Green pretending to be White.

Investigators also found that White’s and Green’s phones were turned off for six hours on Jan. 2, before a signal was traced to Green’s step-grandfather’s house in Daytona Beach. A major development happened on Jan. 5, when White’s car was discovered in the parking lot of a Flagler County bar.

The next day, Ultsh and another detective drove 200 miles north to the step-granddad’s house. They were told that Green hours earlier had cut his wrists in a failed attempt to kill himself and was taken to a hospital. Green told a cousin he had “messed up,” records show.

The detectives said they later found White’s phone, broken and thrown out near a Travel Inn that Green stayed at for three nights after arriving in town after the murder.

Daytona Beach Police grabbed Green just as he was leaving the hospital, arresting him on a probation violation from a prior felony. He refused to talk and requested a lawyer. The next day, investigators matched Green’s DNA to the bloody crime scene in White’s apartment.

Claim of insanity

The case has moved slowly since Green was first charged with first-degree murder. That’s mainly because the State Attorney’s Office had been seeking the death penalty for Green until early last year.

Prosecutors initially said capital punishment was justified because the killing was “heinous, atrocious or cruel,” and Green had been previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence. Records show that Green, who lived for a time in Fort Lauderdale, had two prior felony cases in Palm Beach County.

In 2012, he received a sentence of three years of probation on a charge of dealing in stolen property; and in 2013, he was sentenced to five years of probation on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon conviction.

Last February, Assistant State Attorney Chrichet Mixon announced that her office was no longer seeking capital punishment. No reason was given for the change. Mixon declined to comment, citing the open case.

Green’s lawyers have claimed he is “exempt from execution” because of a two-decade-long history of psychiatric problems. They are preparing an insanity defense for trial.

The Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Green, says he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“It is beyond reasonable dispute that Mr. Green is severely mentally ill,” wrote Joseph Walsh, his lead attorney. “The conditions and characteristics that led Mr. Green to commit this tragic crime, moreover, had plagued him from the time he was a young adult.” Walsh also noted that his client was “labeled as low intelligence” from early childhood, dealt with constant moves around eight states, and at one point suffered a “traumatic head injury.”

The defense lawyer declined to comment about the case, which will be a battle of mental health experts. Prosecutors are setting out to prove that Green was fully aware of his violent actions, and efforts to hide the crime.