DETROIT — Two weeks ago Detroit residents were shocked to learn of the death of 8-year-old Tameria Greene, who was allegedly stabbed to death by her mother Semeria Greene, 26, in her Detroit home located on the 2200 block of East Larned Street, just east of Downtown.

While the mother is being held at the Wayne County Jail and faces felony murder charges that can lead to life in prison, other family members were left with the burden of dealing with the 8-year-olds funeral arrangements, which included a $1,700 bill that they were unable to pay. Tameria’s funeral was delayed for over a week.  

Tameria Greene.

But in a surprising move, a Muslim funeral home director decided that she was going to donate a $2,000 casket to the family in order to help cover expenses. 

“The package that the family had originally chosen was a wooden box that was worth $350, and I couldn’t bear seeing that,” Helon Rahman, the Director of Rahman Funeral Home in Hamtramck, tells The Arab American News. “I’m a mom and I have two boys who are in high school and it just really touched me. When I saw her, I wanted to put her in a metal casket.” 

Additionally, at Tameria’s burial, the family received a  donation from an individual who wished to remain anonymous, according to Rahman. They had only come up with $1,000 to cover the costs and an individual decided to donate money to the family on the spot. Rahman says she isn’t sure if the mother who is being held in custody is Muslim, however she confirms other members of the family are. 

The death of Tameria affected her four younger brothers greatly. According to authorities, Tameria’s 4-year-old brother had witnessed her death. A document filed by the Wayne County Juvenile Court says the brother had told authorities his mother “had a big knife and killed his sister Ti-Ti.” Her body was discovered by police after neighbors had heard screaming from the home and contacted authorities.  

It seems Semeria had been seen as an unfit mother prior to the incident. In 2010, her five children were taken out of her custody and given to her sister after police had discovered she had been leaving them home alone. There was also a previous case involving Sameria physically assaulting her daughter. At the time Tameria had originally lied to authorities about her mother abusing her, before finally admitting that her mom had bit her forearm and face. 

Prior to the murder, a court date was scheduled on January 29th for the neglect and abuse allegations. The state Department of Human Services and Wayne Circuit Court have reportedly launched investigations to determine why Tameria and her four brothers were allowed to stay in the home after multiple allegations of abuse.