Mom’s Accused Murderer Smiles, Waves In Court

DAYTON, Ohio—Attorneys for a man accused of killing a woman in her home and leaving her 4-year-old son at a highway rest stop asked a judge Thursday for a second mental evaluation of their client after a psychologist concluded he was competent to stand trial.

As a handcuffed Charlie Myers entered the courtroom in a yellow jail outfit, he smiled and waved to people in the gallery. As a child, Myers lived in homeless shelters with his father, was shuttled between foster homes and struggled with a hearing impairment.

In her report, Dr. Barbara Bergman concluded that Myers did not meet the requirements to be judged incompetent to stand trial.

Defense attorney Dennis Lieberman filled a motion seeking a second psychological evaluation, saying Myers was unable to answer basic questions about the proceedings against him. Lieberman said Myers was unable to explain the purpose of a trial when first asked, was not familiar with the role of a jury, and did not know the difference between various pleas.

Lieberman also said some of Myers’ verbal test results were extremely low and that his hearing impairment, language deficits and impact on his cognitive functioning should not be ignored or minimized.

“A courtroom is all verbal; it’s not in writing,“ Lieberman said following the hearing. “The issue is whether he’s able to participate in the proceedings or whether or not he can adequately aid his attorneys in his defense.“

Common Pleas Court Judge Dennis Langer gave prosecutors a week to respond to the defense motion and said he would rule after that on whether there would be a second psychological evaluation.

The 22-year-old Myers, of Columbus, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and is being held on $5 million bond.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. has said Myers kicked in the door to the woman’s home Jan. 2 as she was making dinner. He said Myers took the woman and the boy to the basement, tied the woman to a chair, then took the boy upstairs and had sexual contact with him.

The 29-year-old mother broke free, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Myers once in the side. Heck said Myers then shot her twice with a shotgun.

He said Myers left the boy at a highway rest stop with no coat or shoes. Travelers found the boy wandering around and called police.

The Associated Press is not identifying the family so as not to identify the victim of an alleged sexual offense.

Myers made an impromptu statement to reporters in January as he was being led into jail, offering an apology and saying he had made a mistake. He didn’t confess to the slaying, but he acknowledged taking the woman’s son and dropping him off at an Interstate 70 rest area in central Ohio.

A week before Christmas, prosecutors say, Myers stole the victim’s car from a parking garage at Ohio State University in Columbus, where the boy’s mother and father had attended a rock concert to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary. Items left in the car identified the family and where they lived.

FBI agents found that the woman’s cell phone was used twice in Columbus after her death, including to call Myers’ phone, according to a search warrant affidavit.

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