Victim of Arizona Shootings was Daughter of Dodgers Scout

Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green lost his daughter, Christina Taylor Green, in the Arizona shooting spree./Photo Credit: Jon SooHoot/Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers family was hit with the news that an extension of one of their own was one of the victims that did not survive the tragic shooting spree aimed at taking the life of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, daughter of Dodgers scout John Green, lost her life at the hands of alleged shooter Jared Loughner, who fired shots into a total of 19 people.Six of those victims, including Green and a federal judge, died.

Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt issued a released statement expressing condolences to the elder Green from the entire organization.

“We lost a member of the Dodgers family today,” Mc Court said. “The entire Dodgers organization is mourning the death of John’s daughter Christina, and will do everything we can to support John, his wife, Roxanna, and their son, Dallas, in the aftermath of this senseless tragedy. I spoke with John earlier today and expressed condolences on behalf of the entire Dodgers organization.”

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama joined the families of the victims at a planned memorial service at the University of Arizona’s basketball gymnasium. President Obama briefly eulogized each fallen victim.

 “I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today, and will stand by you tomorrow…There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts,” said President Obama. “But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight.  We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief.  And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy pull through.”

 As with the other victims, President Obama gave Christina Green an honorable salute.  

“Christina was an A student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer,” said President Obama.  “She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her.  She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, “We are so blessed.  We have the best life.”  And she’d pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.”

 Christina Green, who was born on 9/11, had reportedly developed a knack of being acutely involved in politics early, according to her father. Christina was even elected to the student council at her elementary school.  

“She was a good speaker. I could have easily seen her as a politician,” John Green told the Arizona Daily Star. Green is the Dodgers’ East Coast supervisor of amateur scouting.

Christina Green was also the granddaughter of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green.  Dallas Green, who led the Phillies to a World Series championship in 1980, released a statement speaking on the support he and the family had received.  

“This is such a tough time for Sylvia and I and for John and Roxanna and little Dallas,” Dallas Green said in the statement. “We thank everybody from the bottom of our hearts for their friendship, thoughts and prayers, especially the Phillies and our extended family in baseball. Somehow we will get through this, but right now our little nine-year-old granddaughter is not here and we’re having a hard time with that.”

The Green family have felt and received responses from all across Major League Baseball, including the Phillies organization and New York Yankees. Roxanna Green, Christina’s mother, told the Arizona Daily Star that her daughter was full of life.

“She kept up with everyone, she was a strong girl, a very good athlete and a strong swimmer,” her mother, Roxanna Green said. “She was interested in everything. She got a guitar for Christmas, so her next thing was learning to play guitar.”


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