5-year-old Amber Alert person in Ohio died of suffocation

For an earlier report on Darnell Taylor’s death, see the player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A 5-year-old who was the subject of an Amber Alert in Ohio in February until his body was found in a Columbus sewer died of asphyxiation.

The Franklin County coroner released reports Tuesday on the cause of death of Darnell Taylor. His legal guardian, Pammy Maye, is charged with murder and her confession was recorded by police body-worn cameras.

The coroner stated the cause was “asphyxia due to suffocation by cervical neck compression.”

After her arrest, Maye told police that after learning that Taylor had been eating in bed, she put Taylor in a garbage bag, tied it up, and waited until he stopped moving. She said she had several behavioral problems with Taylor.

“What I did to my son is not fair,” Maye said in a bodycam recording.

Maye told police that she confessed to protect her husband, who was not home at the time.

Taylor’s body was found in a drain in the 1000 block of Marsdale Avenue on the Southwest Side. The Amber Alert, which was triggered after Maye left the house and the husband called Columbus police, lasted for days until she was found nearly 150 miles away in Brooklyn, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Maye, who remains in custody, has pleaded not guilty to five counts. Her trial is scheduled for June 24 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.