Closing arguments for Thermal man accused of killing baby in Hwy 74 crash

Closing arguments are beginning Wednesday in the trial of a felon accused of killing his infant daughter in a high-speed crash on the south end of Palm Desert.

Marcus Novell Green, 58, of Thermal, is charged with second-degree murder, child cruelty and a sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegation for the May 2016 death of 5-month-old Armani Green.

Green is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

Armani was sitting on her mother's lap, not restrained in a car seat, when the crash occurred on a narrow stretch of Highway 74 that courses through hills.

The defendant was at the wheel of a modified 2015 Porsche sports coupe and lost control, causing the vehicle to skid toward the shoulder and plow through a guardrail, after which it plunged down a 200-foot embankment, prosecutors said.

According to the District Attorney's Office, Green was likely driving up to 60 mph on a segment of the corridor where the speed limit is 30 mph due to steering hazards.

The baby was ejected from the Porsche and thrown about 90 feet from the car when it overturned, suffering catastrophic injuries. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics less than an hour later.

Both Green and Lauer were seriously injured and taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. Green was released from the hospital and arrested four days after the crash.

Deputy District Attorney Samantha Paixao alleged that the baby was sitting on Lauer’s lap because the car had racing modifications that prevented use of the backseats. Green “placed (Armani) in extreme danger” by allowing the infant to ride unrestrained, while driving “on one of the most dangerous roads that we have here in the desert, state Route 74,” Paixao said.

“The two people who survived this accident, Your Honor, are the two people that had seatbelts on,” the prosecutor said. “They ensured their own safety by putting those seatbelts on and did not offer the same safety, the same dignity, for their own child.”

Green's ex-girlfriend, 29-year-old Kristen Lauer of Rancho Mirage, pleaded guilty in 2019 to second-degree murder and child cruelty and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Burke Strunsky to a lifetime term of probation.

Strunsky justified the sentence by pointing to the physical impairments, including a brain injury, Lauer suffered because of the wreck. He downplayed the part she played in the crash, describing hers as a "neglectful criminal act," not a deliberate one.

The District Attorney's Office had sought a minimum 15-year prison term for the woman

Thomas Carlson, a California Highway Patrol forensic mechanic, testified the car had no major mechanical issues that might have contributed to the crash. He said the right rear tire was leaking, but not enough to cause a loss of control.

According to court records, Green has prior convictions for firearm assault, robbery and theft going back to the early 1990s.