Gregory G. Greene Jr. (DCDA), Meredith Greene, Tyler Thames, and authorities responding to the home where they were killed (WGAL screenshots)
A 33-year-old man in Pennsylvania will spend the remainder of his days behind bars after admitting to shooting and killing his sister and her fiance, and then critically injuring his two young nieces by stabbing them both in the neck. Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas Judge William T. Tully on Monday ordered Gregory G. Greene Jr. to serve two consecutive life sentences for the slayings of Meredith Greene and Tyler Thames, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office, prior to being sentenced, Greene pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, burglary, and other lesser offenses in connection with his actions on the tragic night of Feb. 9, 2022. He had submitted to mental health evaluations establishing that he was mentally ill but not insane at the time of the murders.
In addition to the life sentences, Judge Tully also ordered Greene to 21 1/2 to 45 years on the lesser charges, to be served consecutive to the life sentences.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, officers with the Harrisburg Police Department on Feb. 9 at approximately 6:45 a.m. responded to a residence located on Liberty Street after seeing a woman "covered in blood" who was "frantically yelling for help," according to a probable cause affidavit. The officers were in the area serving a warrant in an unrelated matter when they encountered the woman, later identified as Brittonie Meredith.
Brittonie Meredith was suffering from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds — at least one of which she sustained to her face — and told the officers that there were other victims at the nearby home located in the 1300 block of Liberty Street in Swatara Township.
Upon arriving at the house, first responders went inside and discovered an unresponsive adult female and an unresponsive adult male. Both appeared to have sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The victims, who were later identified as Meredith Greene and Thames, were both pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Police then located the couple's two young children in the home, identified in the document as 6-year-old "A.T." and 8-year-old "R.T." Both girls appeared to have suffered stab wounds.
Prosecutors said that Greene stole a running Dodge Charger at about 5:45 a.m. that morning and drove it to his sister's home. Though a court order issued only four days earlier prohibited Greene from entering the home, he forced his way inside while his family was asleep.
"He went to the bedroom of his sister, Brittonie Meredith, on the second floor, and shot her in the face," prosecutors wrote. "The defendant continued down the hall and shot his other sister, Meredith Greene, multiple times. Meredith entered her mother's bedroom and closed the door behind her. Meredith died there but likely saved her mother's life by doing this."
Greene and Brittonie Meredith's mother, former Harrisburg City Councilwoman Sandra Reid, was not injured during the massacre.
Greene then climbed the stairs to the third floor of the home where he shot and killed Thames.
"The defendant continued down the hall to the bedroom of his nieces," prosecutors wrote. "He attempted to shoot R.T., but he was out of ammunition. The defendant stabbed R.T. in the neck and shoulder and threw her down the stairs. He then stabbed A.T. in the neck."
Authorities searching the home saw Greene flee the scene in the stolen Charger and gave chase. Multiple law enforcement agencies took part in pursuing Greene, who eventually crashed into a school bus in Londonderry Township and was taken into custody.
Police interviewed the two young girls at the hospital where they both allegedly stated that Greene, who is their uncle, was the man who stabbed them, per the affidavit.
"Uncle stabbed us," the girls told police.
The young girls also confirmed that they saw Greene inside the house and that he was holding a gun. Greene, who was convicted in 2010 on the charge of corruption of minors, was legally prohibited from carrying a firearm.