Pammy Maye, 48, allegedly suffocated Darnell Taylor, 5, and then hid his body in a sewer before fleeing her home and being arrested 130 miles away as she wandered the street in her nightgown, say police.
An Ohio foster mother accused of murdering a young boy in her care showed no emotion during her first court appearance on Wednesday.
Pammy Maye, 48, wore a beige prison jumpsuit and only spoke once when asked to confirm her identity as she appeared via video feed from the Franklin County Corrections Center II.
She then stared blankly ahead for the entirety of the three-minute hearing. Even when the judge concluded the three-minute hearing by setting her bail at $4 million, no emotion registered on Maye's face,
Maye has not yet entered a plea in the case and will be back in court on March 1, unless a grand jury votes to indict her before that date. The public defender assigned to the case did not respond to a request for comment.
She is facing charges of murder, kidnaping and endangering the welfare of a child.
Detective Lowell Titus of the Columbus Police Department alleges in a probable cause affidavit obtained by Inside Edition Digital that Maye suffocated 5-year-old Darnell Taylor in their home.
Maye and her husband had been Darnell's foster parents since May of last year, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
It is Maye's husband who alerted authorities after his wife told him that Darnell was no longer with them, according to a police report.
During that call, made in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, Maye could be heard by police saying she "had a plan," according to the report.
She then fled the home before police arrived and was picked up the following day some 130 miles away in Brooklyn, a suburb of Cleveland, according to the police report. Maye was wandering the street in a nightgown at the time, according to the report.
Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant said that once in custody, Maye told officers where she hid Darnel's body: a sewer.
Police located the body shortly after midnight on Feb. 16, according to the probable cause affidavit.
That affidavit says that Darnell suffocated at approximately 11:02 p.m. on Feb. 13, just a few hours before Maye's husband called police.
It is not clear if Maye allegedly disposed of the boy's body in the sewer before or after her husband made that call.
Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Tyler McCoy said in court on Wednesday that Maye has no prior record, has been diagnosed with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and said she has exhibited possessive and controlling behavior in the past.
He also said that she is a flight risk given her decision to flee after her husband called police.
Judge Cynthia Ebner set Maye's bond at $1 million for the kidnapping charge and $3 million for the murder charge. Maye is also not allowed to possess any weapons or firearms, consume drugs or alcohol, or have contact with any potential witnesses if released on bail, Judge Ebner said.
Maye did not respond when asked if she understood the conditions of her parole at the end of the hearing, and instead stood silently before being ushered away by a member of the jail staff.
