Actions

‘Person of interest’ in killing of his grandmother has long, violent past

Posted at 11:46 PM, Dec 30, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-30 23:46:46-05

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Police have not specifically named Ricardo Green a suspect in the death of 81-year-old Bernice Pannell, but do call him a person of interest.

Family members said he lives on East Chatham Drive with Pannell, who was his grandmother, and they say he was "her world," despite his very dark past.

Police said Green is the man who led them on a chase through the city before crashing Pannell’s car into a power pole Tuesday night off Staples Mill Rd. He was then loaded onto a stretcher bound for the hospital.

Ricardo Green

Ricardo Green

"Her grandson lives with her," said Pannell's younger sister, Doris Wingfield.

The crash was just four hours after the discovery of the grisly scene on East Chatham in Henrico County.  Family members told CBS 6 that Pannell’s bloodied body was found in a bedroom.

Bertha Bernice Pannell

Bertha Bernice Pannell

"She was a very sweet person, would do anything for you and she loved that grandson," said Wingfield, referring to Green.

CBS 6 has discovered Green also led police on a chase back in 1997, which ended in a fiery crash near the Governor’s Mansion.

He served nine years for stabbing an ex-girlfriend in the neck with a screwdriver in July, 2000.

Green has also racked up drug convictions, a grand larceny and forgery conviction.

And most chilling, police said the 47-year-old attacked his grandmother last month. They said an emergency protective order was taken out.

"It's devastating to lose someone to violence, but even more devastating knowing that it could be someone in your family that took the life," said Wingfield.

Sources told CBS 6 Green is at a local hospital recovering from crash injuries and will be released in the next day or so into police custody.

CBS 6 has obtained court documents from Green's conviction in that 2000 attack.

In her court testimony the victim stated:

"He started to hit me in my face with his fist.  And he just kept on hitting me. And he kept on hitting me in my face until I got numb and I couldn't feel him hitting me in my face anymore."

"He got the screwdriver...he poked me in my side first and he just stuck it in my neck while I was laying on the floor. He looked like he was looking for something else while the screwdriver was in my neck."

The victim says she eventually jumped out a window to escape.

Green served nine years for that malicious wounding and a separate larceny but because of his other convictions was released from prison in 2013.

His probation period ended earlier this year.

CBS6-News-at-4pm-and-Jennifer-Hudson-480x360.jpg

Entertainment

Watch 'The Jennifer Hudson Show' weekdays at 3 p.m. on CBS 6!

📱 Download CBS 6 News App
The app features breaking news alerts, live video, weather radar, traffic incidents, closings and delays and more.