Charges dropped in death of Clearwater woman caught in fight between dad, boyfriend

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office has decided not to prosecute a Clearwater man who was accused of stabbing his daughter as she tried to break up a fight between him and her boyfriend.

Prosecutors dismissed the manslaughter charge against Laurence Green, 52, on Friday, saying they determined he was acting in self defense.

Sidney Green, 22, died May 8 from stab wounds. According to her boyfriend and high school sweetheart, Kyle Peter, the two were taking a nap at Sidney Green’s apartment that day when a fight broke out between Peter and Laurence Green.

The two men eventually moved to the parking lot of the Bay Cove apartment complex. According to Peter’s account, one of Sidney Green’s sisters grabbed the hair of Peter’s mother, who had come to pick up the couple from the apartment complex. Peter then threw a brick at the sister’s car, at which point more fighting broke out between him and Laurence Green.

Sidney Green tried to break up the fight and was stabbed in the lower left abdomen, according to police and witness accounts. Both men were taken into custody, though Clearwater police eventually released Peter and took Laurence Green to jail on the manslaughter charge.

Assistant state attorney Nash Licona said Laurence Green had brain surgery about six months before the fight, and if punched in the head could have been seriously injured or killed. Licona said Green had been acting in self defense when he pulled out a knife on Peter, who had been punching him in the head, and accidentally stabbed Sidney Green instead.

“Laurence Green was acting within his legal right to defend himself,” Licona said.