Ex-Cubs GM’s granddaughter killed in shooting
ASSOCIATED PRESS January 9, 2011 11:22AM
In this undated photo provided by the Greene family and distributed by the Arizona Republic newspaper, Christina Greene poses for a photo. Greene was one of those killed in an attack on U.S. Rep (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Greene Family) NO SALES, MANDATORY CREDIT, MARICOPA COUNTY OUT, MAGS OUT
Updated: January 9, 2011 8:32PM
The 9-year-old granddaughter of former Cubs general manager Dallas Green was among the six people killed in a rampage in Arizona that targeted Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Green, Cubs GM 1981-1987, is now an executive advisor for the Philadelphia Phillies, which he managed to the World Series championship in 1980.
“She was a talented young girl with a bright promising future. Her untimely death weighs heavily on our hearts,” Philadelphia Phillies president David Montgomery said Sunday. The Phillies said the girl’s name was spelled Christina-Taylor Green; Arizona authorities provided a different spelling, Christina Greene.
Her father, a scout for the Dodgers, told the Arizona Daily Star that Christina had been interested in politics from a young age. She had recently been elected to the student council at her school.
“She was a good speaker. I could have easily seen her as a politician,” her father told the newspaper.
A neighbor was going to Saturday’s event - held outside a Safeway supermarket north of Tucson, Ariz., and an opportunity for constituents to meet Giffords and talk about any concerns they had related to the federal government - and invited Christina along because she thought she would enjoy it.
“The next thing you know this happened,” said Christina’s uncle Greg Segalini. “How do you prepare for something like this. My little niece got killed — took one on the chest and she is dead,” Segalini said outside the girl’s house. “She was real special and real sweet.”
Christina, who was born on Sept. 11, 2001, was involved in various activities, from ballet to baseball, and had just received her first Holy Communion at St. Odilia’s Catholic Church in Tucson, Catholic Diocese of Tucson officials told The Arizona Daily Star.
Her birth date no doubt helped prod the girl’s interest in politics, her mother, Roxanna Green, told the Star. She was one of 50 babies born on Sept.
11 featured in a book called “Faces of Hope.”
“She was born back East and Sept. 11 affected everyone there, and Christina-Taylor was always very aware of it. She was very patriotic and wearing red, white and blue was really special to her,” her mother said.
