CLEARWATER, Fla. — A 51-year-old man faces a manslaughter charge after stabbing his daughter as she tried to break up a fight.
Laurence Green was armed with a knife during a fight with his daughter's boyfriend when 22-year-old Sidney Green tried to get between the two men and was stabbed, police said.
Green sat down with ABC Action News Anchor Vanessa Araiza Monday afternoon after he was booked into the Pinellas County Jail.
"It wasn't meant for her. Like I said she jumped in the way and it wasn't meant for her," Green said.
Green said he returned to the Bay Cove apartments Monday evening to grab some clothes. When he arrived he said he found his daughter's boyfriend inside and said that the two have had an on-again-off-again relationship for years.
"I said, 'you got three minutes to get him out of the house' and she wouldn't get him out of the house," Green said.
The argument continued outside in the parking lot.
Clearwater Police Major Natalia Illich-Hailey said preliminary reports show the father was acting in self-defense.
"He at the time was defending himself from the boyfriend because he was being hit in the head by the boyfriend. He intended to stab the boyfriend to get him off of him and that is when his daughter intervened between the two of them," Major Illich-Hailey said.
Sidney was stabbed in the stomach and later died at the hospital.
"Sidney was a light. She can make everyone smile and make everyone happy. I want people to remember that about her. Regardless of what happened, I want people to remember that about her that she was a good person," Green said.
Many have questioned Green's current charge on social media. ABC Action News spoke to Florida Gulf Coast law professor Pamella Seay about it.
She says even if Green didn't intend to stab his daughter, he did intend to harm her boyfriend which has led to the manslaughter charge.
That said, Seay also tells us there's a chance that charge could be dropped, among other possible changes to the case.
"I foresee a lot of changes coming through whether it will remain as the manslaughter of his daughter or if it changes to attempted murder of her boyfriend, that's a possibility," she said.
Seay adds that eyewitness interviews from that night will be key in determining possible changes to Green's charges.
