More than two years after 5-year-old Darnell Taylor was allegedly suffocated and left in a sewer drain, the South Side woman accused of the crime has been found competent to stand trial.
Still, more evaluation needs to take place.
Pammy Maye, 50, is charged with aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with the Feb. 13, 2024, death of Taylor.
On April 13, Maye appeared in Franklin County Common Pleas Court where she and her attorney agreed to the findings of an evaluation by a psychiatrist who determined Maye is now competent to stand trial, meaning she can understand the nature of the criminal proceedings and assist her attorney in her defense.
Now, Maye will undergo an evaluation to determine if she meets the requirements under Ohio law to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. That evaluation will determine if Maye understood the wrongfulness of her actions at the time she committed them.
Maye’s last scheduled court date was Oct. 20, which was intended to be a check-in on her competency. At that time, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Serrott ordered Maye to continue undergoing treatment after being found incompetent to stand trial − but able to be restored to competency − in August 2025.
Shorty after Maye’s arrest, her attorney, Sam Shamansky, indicated he was going to try to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, saying Maye had mental health concerns.
Serrott said during the April 13 hearing that he wants the case to move forward and would set a trial date for about three months later, which he expects to move forward as a trial or be resovled through a plea agreement.
What happened to Darnell Taylor?
In February 2024, Maye’s husband called Columbus police to report Darnell Taylor was missing. He said Maye left the couple’s home on the 900 block of Reeb Avenue, on the South Side, after making comments about hurting Darnell that concerned Maye’s husband. A short time later, an Amber Alert was issued.
The Mayes had temporary legal guardianship over Darnell Taylor.
On Feb. 15, 2024, police in Brooklyn, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, arrested Maye. Body camera video of Maye at a hospital, where she spoke with police. The video showed Maye confessing to killing Darnell and dumping his body. Maye used a map to tell detectives where to find Darnell’s body, according to the video, and his body was recovered that same day.
Maye told police she put Darnell in a trash bag and allowed him to suffocate.
Darnell’s body was found inside a 30-gallon trash bag inside of a sleeping bag in a sewage drain.
An autopsy report found Darnell had hit normal developmental benchmarks for his age. The autopsy found the boy had choked prior to his death and had other injuries consistent with strangulation and suffocation cases.
A lawsuit filed in November 2024 said Darnell had been born missing part of his cerebellum and had developmental disabilities. The boy also needed leg braces to help him walk and had behavioral issues.
The lawsuit accuses multiple agencies of missing red flags with Maye that could have led to Darnell being removed from her custody. The lawsuit is still pending in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
Some of those red flags included Maye not scheduling required medical appointments or speech therapy sessions and making no effort to schedule visitation with Darnell’s biological family.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Pammy Maye one step closer to trial for death of 5-year-old Darnell Taylor
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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