The July 31 hearing for a woman accused of suffocating a 5-year-old boy in her care lasted less than a minute before being disrupted.
Pammy Maye, 50, accompanied by three Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies, began yelling what sounded like “God is dead” before being escorted back to a holding cell moments after Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Serrott began talking.
Maye is charged with aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with the February 2024 suffocation death of 5-year-old Darnell Taylor.
On July 27, Serrott told Maye that she had to decide whether to take a plea offer by the July 31 hearing. He said no other plea offers would be accepted if she turned the plea down.
Maye formally declined a plea offer through her attorney, Sam Shamansky, during the hearing. A trial is now scheduled for Nov. 9.
The Franklin County Prosecutor’s office had offered Maye a deal of pleading guilty to aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse with no jointly recommended sentence to suggest to Serrott.
Serrott would have four options to choose from under Ohio law: life in prison with no option for parole or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20, 25 or 30 years. If Maye went to trial, she could face convictions for three counts of tampering with evidence which could add additional prison time to any other sentence.
Serrott said after Maye had left the courtroom that the prosecutor’s office would not be “giving anything away” with the plea deal that was offered.
Shamansky said after the hearing that the outburst demonstrates what he thinks is the key to the case – Maye’s mental health.
“It has everything to do with the stressful difficult situation a human being is in,” Shamansky said. “None of us are in her shoes, none of us would want to be in her shoes, even separate and apart from the crime.”
Maye has undergone several psychiatric evaluations that have found her competent to stand trial.
In February 2024, Columbus police issued an Amber Alert for Darnell after Maye’s husband arrived at the couple’s home and made comments about where the boy was before leaving the couple’s home.
Maye was arrested in northeast Ohio and spoke with detectives while being examined in a hospital. In an interview captured on body camera, Maye told police where she put Darnell’s body.
The 5-year-old’s body was found in a sewage drain on the South Side.
Maye told detectives, according to the video, that she got upset with Darnell over his eating of snacks in bed. She put a black trash bag over the boy’s head and covering his whole body, double-knotting it at his feet. Maye then put the boy’s body in a sleeping bag and in a closet in the home for more than 12 hours.
Maye and her husband took over care for Darnell in May 2023. They were family friends with Darnell’s biological family and the 5-year-old was unable to live with them. The Mayes were recommended as a temporary custody placement.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Pammy Maye escorted out of hearing after outburst, rejects plea deal
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
