Authorities Reopen Tamara Greene Case Task Force Includes FBI, Michigan State Police Officials

DETROIT — Six years ago Tamara Greene was killed in a drive-by shooting in Detroit. And now, the Detroit Police Department has reopened the case, which has become one of Detroit’s most famous unsolved crimes.

Greene, a dancer known as Strawberry, was rumored to have been at a party thrown at the Moongian Mansion by former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in 2002.

On April 30, 2003, Greene was in a car with her boyfriend on Detroit’s west side when a gunman opened fire on their vehicle, killing Greene and wounding the boyfriend.

“Nobody is comfortable that it has been given the due-diligence that it needs, and we’re going to try and rectify that,” Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans said.

Greene’s case has been moved out of cold cases, straight to the top of the elite violent crime task force’s pile.

The task force is made up of officials from the FBI, Michigan State Police and the Detroit Police Department.

“They’re going to get any support they need from me to do what they need to do to put it to bed,” Evans said. “If it culminates in an arrest, that’s great.”

The decision to reopen the case follows a Local 4 Defender investigation that uncovered a team of new police officers who, in sworn statements, said they were shut down when they tried to follow up on leads. The officers testified that one lead involved how self-proclaimed hit man Vincent Smothers could have been involved in Greene’s death, but that the investigation was shut down by police brass in Kilpatrick’s final months as mayor.

Ernest Flagg is the father of Tamara Greene’s son. He said he’s elated with the chief’s decision and that he believes Greene’s killing can be solved.

“Everyday people, that really know what went on, really have a piece of the puzzle and really can help bring this to a closure,” Flagg said. “There’s still a lot of positive leads out here, a lot of positive information out here that can come about and help this case come to an end.”

The task force is set to get to work immediately.

“If it leads us to other crimes, we’ll jump on them. It’s just the natural order of what investigations are supposed to be about,” Evans said.