COLUMBUS, Ohio — A woman accused of killing a 5-year-old boy last week in Columbus has a history of mental health issues, a prosecutor said in court on Thursday.
A Franklin County Municipal Court judge set 48-year-old Pammy Maye's bond at $4 million. She has been charged with murder, kidnapping and endangering children in the death of Darnell Taylor.
“She has mental health issues, bipolar and schizophrenia as well as possessive and controlling behaviors in the past,” said Tyler McCoy, a Franklin County prosecutor.
So how could Maye’s mental health affect her trial, if she has one? According to former Franklin County prosecutor Ron O’Brien, Maye could plead not guilty by insanity.
“You ask the court to order an exam of the defendant to determine if they are competent to stand trial. That is whether they understand the nature and substance of the charges and if they have the mental ability to assist the lawyer in defending the case,” said O’Brien.
But O’Brien said if she does plead not guilty by insanity, she will have to prove two things.
“If the defendant is pleading insanity, they must prove by a preponderance one that they suffer from a mental disease or defect and secondly that as a result of that defect they didn’t have the ability to distinguish right from wrong,” said O’Brien.
In a 911 call, Maye’s husband told police she confessed to killing the 5-year-old boy.
O’Brien said that could make it hard for Maye to prove she didn’t know right from wrong. He said another challenge could be proving why she fled to a Cleveland suburb.
“A couple cases I can think of flight from scene of a crime, evidence conscious of guilt therefore knowledge of the suspect that they know what they did was wrong,” said O’Brien.