Bodycam shows officers finding Pammy Maye after boy’s death
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus woman accused of killing a child, the subject of a statewide Amber Alert, was in tears as police approached her during her videotaped arrest.
Officers found Pammy Maye, 48, on Feb. 18 inside a building near Cleveland. The Columbus Division of Police released body camera footage on Friday from when Brooklyn police first encountered her. An Ohio Amber Alert went out Feb. 14 for Darnell Taylor, 5, for whom she was a legal guardian and the suspect in his abduction. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant confirmed on Feb. 16 that police located what they believed to be Taylor’s body in southwest Columbus.
In the trio of videos released from three officers, they walked into an industrial building where they spoke with a witness. An officer asked them if Maye randomly came inside as the group of law enforcement heads down a hallway.
Police blurred the inside of the building captured on camera, citing an exception to Ohio public records law. Because of this, Maye is never visible in the video, but can be heard interacting with officers.
“My husband thinks I did something wrong and I’m sick,” Maye said in the video.
Maye was already crying as officers walked into the room she was in. She speaks unintelligibly through most of the video, but she tells police she doesn’t have any weapons and that she was wearing plastic bags on her feet. They then read her Miranda rights before arresting her.
A Franklin County grand jury would later indict Maye on charges of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse, and three counts of tampering with evidence. She was extradited back to Columbus on Feb. 21 for proceedings in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
Maye’s trial is scheduled to begin Monday, according to court records. However, her attorney Sam Shamansky told NBC4 he anticipates it will be rescheduled, because the defense and prosecutors haven’t gone through the discovery process, and Maye has not had a required mental health evaluation yet.
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