DAYTON, Ohio - A man charged with killing a young mother in her home, having sexual contact with her 4-year-old son and leaving him at a highway rest stop was ordered held on $5 million bond Thursday.
Charlie Myers, 22, of Columbus made 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, including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and gross sexual imposition involving a child under 13.
No plea was entered, and Myers said he had no attorney. Prosecutors were considering whether to seek the death penalty.
Myers made an impromptu 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 Jan. 2 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.
Authorities say Myers stole the family's car on or about Dec. 17 from a parking garage at Ohio State and apparently used information about the family he found in the car to locate them. Police recovered the car near the family's home, but Myers hasn't been charged with the theft.
He's accused of entering the family's home, restraining the mother and shooting her with a shotgun. She was found lying on a hallway floor in her home after an apparent struggle.
Investigators have not commented on a motive, but have said robbery is among the possibilities. Myers was arrested after the woman's cell phone was used twice in Columbus after her death, including a call made to Myers' phone, court documents show.
Meanwhile, a Columbus woman whose car was stolen a year ago by Myers said Thursday she suspects Myers stalked her.
Sky Cunningham, 25, said Myers came to her apartment in December 2007 shortly after her car had been stolen from a nightclub, saying he had information about the missing vehicle.
Cunningham was gone at the time and a roommate told Myers she wasn't home.
Myers later pleaded guilty to stealing the car, along another belonging to Cunningham's roommate. She said the memory of the hassle had faded until she heard of the young mother's slaying.
"That could have been me," Cunningham told The Associated Press Thursday. "I got lucky. The timing was good that I was at my other job."
The victim's mother said Thursday that the family is surrounding the boy with love.
"She was a wonderful mother," the woman said of her daughter. "You can't say anything negative about the girl. She was a free spirit."
The Associated Press is not identifying the family so as not to identify the victim of an alleged sexual offense.
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