A jury heard opening statements and several witnesses testify on day one in the murder trial of Pammy Maye, the woman accused of killing her 5-year-old foster child in Feb. 2024.
Maye, 51, is charged with aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse for killing Darnell Taylor by suffocating him with a plastic bag. Authorities say Maye disposed of Taylor's body in a storm drain in Columbus and fled to the Cleveland area, where she was later arrested by police.
She is also accused of taking several steps to conceal the crime, including covering her license plate and washing the sheets of Taylor's bed, where he urinated as he was suffocating.
The jury will decide whether or not Maye was mentally ill when she killed Taylor, which she admitted to doing to police. Maye was offered a plea deal by prosecutors in July, but declined it.
Maye and her husband, Jabrell Maye, took over care of Taylor from his grandparents in 2023. The couple were friends of Taylor's biological family.
Jabrell Maye was the one who called 911 after Pammy Maye confessed to her husband that she killed the boy.
Franklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Katherine Wolfe told the jury about evidence they would hear, including police body-worn camera where Pammy Maye told police what she did. Defense attorney Sam Shamansky called Dr. Daniel Davis to the stand, who conducted a psychological evaluation on Pammy Maye.
"We anticipate that you will hear testimony of Dr. Daniel Davis, who performed a forensic psychological evaluation of Pammy Mae, concluding that Pammy Maye was not insane, as defined by the law at the time of the offense, and that she knew the wrongfulness of her actions," Wolfe said.
Shamansky, however, contends that Pammy Maye was mentally unwell. He didn't dispute that Pammy Maye killed Taylor.
"The woman who committed this unspeakable, horrible act was so consumed with mental illness, mental illness as we can only begin to imagine," Shamansky said.
Pammy Maye was found competent to stand trial before the proceedings began.
Davis noted that Pammy Maye had a history of bipolar disorder with major depression and different levels of personality disorder while being questioned by Shamansky on the stand Monday afternoon. He said Pammy Maye didn't suffer from a "severe mental defect," but did suffer from a "severe mental disease."
"It's a lifelong disorder that waxes and wanes overtime. It does respond quite well to treatment if the person actively participates and takes the medications that they need," Davis explained. "At times a person may, with bipolar disorder, exhibit certain psychotic symptoms. They may hear voices."
Davis said bipolar disorder, combined with major depression, can push people to attempt suicide and affect the ability of a person to function. He said Pammy Maye wasn't taking her mental health medication.
Despite this, Davis found that Pammy Maye understood the wrongful nature of her act.
On cross examination, Davis also explained that Pammy Maye was overreporting symptoms while she was being psychologically evaluated and "malingering," a term that means Pammy Maye was intentionally fabricating symptoms.
Davis said Pammy Maye never stated a motivation for killing Taylor that wasn't grounded in reality. Pammy Maye stated reasons such as behavioral issues and Taylor eating in his room as motivating factors.
Closing statements are expected to begin on Tuesday after the defense rests its case.
If the jury doesn't come to a decision on Tuesday, it would mean the trial would continue until Thursday or Friday since the court is closed Wednesday for Veterans Day.
