Police: Gun, Sex Toys Found In Suspect’s Home

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Disturbing details continued to emerge in the case of a Columbus man accused of killing a Dayton-area mother.

NBC 4 uncovered new details Thursday about a possible motive behind the slaying.

Police said they believe Charlie Myers might have meant to harm her 4-year-old son.

Myers was charged with Jennifer Nelson’s murder Tuesday. He allegedly fatally shot Nelson and kidnapped her son before abandoning her son at a highway rest stop in Madison County.

A judge set Myers’ bond at $5 million in an initial court appearance in Vandalia Municipal Court. Speaking on a video conference call from a jail in Dayton, Myers told the judge he understood the charges against him and said he didn’t have an attorney.

No plea was entered.

Myers was charged with gross sexual imposition against a child younger than 13, but prosecutors would not say what Myers was accused of doing, or trying to do, to the boy. They would not discuss the gross sexual imposition charge in any way.

Sources told NBC 4 Nelson was at one time restrained…she struggled and fought to protect her child and was shot and killed.

Myers made a statement to reporters as he was being led into jail Wednesday, offering an apology and saying he had made a mistake.

He didn’t directly confess to the Friday killing of the 29-year-old woman in her Dayton-area home, but he acknowledged taking her son and dropping him off at an Interstate 70 rest area in Central Ohio, where travelers found him wandering around and called police.

“I took the child because I want to make sure the child could stay away from their parent because the parent had passed away,“ Myers said Wednesday.

“I want to say I’m sorry for the crime,“ he said. “I made a mistake.“

Myers pleaded guilty last year to stealing two cars in Columbus, including one belonging to Carl Howard, court records show.

Myers had a troubled childhood and was abandoned to child-care agencies, according to a court document filed last year by attorney Will Ireland, who represented Myers in the previous car theft cases.

Myers has a hearing impairment that cause him to struggle to communicate, “resulting in frustration and occasional judgment errors,“ according to a document filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

“His parents neither contributed to his support nor cared for him,“ the document said.

“According to sources his brothers were subject to a variety of unspeakable abuses at the hands of their parents and others,“ it said.

Myers faces numerous charges related to the Dayton-area slaying, including aggravated murder, kidnapping and gross sexual imposition involving a child under 13.

The woman was found lying on a hallway floor in her home after an apparent struggle.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said Myers has confessed to his involvement in the crime.

Myers is accused of stealing a car belonging Nelson and her husband from an Ohio State University parking garage in Columbus on Dec. 16 or Dec. 17.

The couple left the keys in the unlocked car, along with a wallet and cell phone, according to Ohio State police.

Myers apparently used information about the family he found in the car to locate the couple in Dayton, where he drove with the stolen vehicle, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said Wednesday.

“He deduced where they lived and went there to commit further crimes,“ O’Brien said.

The woman’s cell phone was used twice in Columbus after her death Friday, and one of the calls was made to a cell phone belonging to Myers, which led investigators to his apartment and his subsequent arrest on a warrant for aggravated murder, according to an affidavit filed in Franklin County Municipal Court.

Investigators recovered the cell phone, a laptop computer and a PlayStation 2 video game system that were similar to items stolen from the woman’s Dayton home, the affidavit said.

Detectives also found directions to the home, a shotgun and shells, bloody underwear and a bag containing tags for the woman’s dog and keys to a Honda, the affidavit said.

Ireland said Wednesday he found the new allegations against Myers shocking.

“I have to admit it was more than just surprise,“ said Ireland, who also represented Myers during a brief court appearance in Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus before Myers was transferred to Dayton.

“Knowing Charlie as I do, as having previously represented him, I wouldn’t have expected anything like this,“ Ireland said.

He cautioned he knew no details of the state’s aggravated murder case against Myers.

The Associated Press contributed information to this story.

Stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for the latest information in this developing story.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail .

MORE: NBC 4 Local News | Local Crime News
NBC 4 SPORTS: Sports News, Video
NBC 4 POLITICS: Headlines, Interactives & Video