“You understand that you will never be on parole?” Langer asked Myers. “Do you understand that?”
In addition to the aggravated murder counts, Myers was indicted on four counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated robbery, one count of gross sexual imposition of a child under the age of 13, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon. All charges include firearms specifications.
Eddie Nelson, whose wife Jenny was murdered, told Myers he was there to represent his son, now six.
“The fact that you grew up in a broken home gave you no right to break his,” Eddie Nelson said, his voice building in anger. “You are the monster in his nightmares. You are hated.”
On Jan. 2, 2009, the son of Jenny Nelson approached travelers from Maryland at an Interstate 70 rest stop between Dayton and Columbus. He told them that somebody had shot his mom.
Detectives believe Myers stole the Nelsons’ car in December 2008, then drove to the family’s Harrison Twp. home on Jan. 2. Myers kicked open the front door of the Redder Avenue house, where Nelson was cooking dinner. Her husband was at work at the time.
Myers took Nelson and her son down into the basement, where he tied Nelson to a chair. He then took the boy upstairs and sexually assaulted him, prosecutors said.
Nelson broke free from her restraints, grabbed a knife and stabbed Myers in the side, Heck said. Myers then shot Nelson twice with his shotgun, prosecutors said.
Myers fled in a car, owned by a Nelson relative, with the boy, two computers and Nelson’s cell phone, investigators said.
Myers left the boy that night at a highway rest stop near the Madison and Clark County county line. The boy had no shoes and wasn’t wearing a coat, according to prosecutors.
The Oldsmobile Alero, Myers stole after the shooting, was found Jan. 4 in Columbus, the same day Myers was arrested.
FBI agents tracked Nelson’s cell phone number and determined her cell phone was used twice in Columbus after her death, according to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Franklin County Municipal Court. One of those calls, made the morning of Jan. 4, was made to Myers’ cell phone.
FBI agents and Franklin County sheriff’s detectives went to Myers’ apartment at 70 McMillen Ave. to determine who called him with the dead woman’s cell phone.
Once inside Myers’ home, investigator’s found a cell phone, a blue Dell laptop computer, and a Playstation 2 video game system consistent with items stolen from the Nelson’s home the night of the slaying, the affidavit said.
Detectives also found four shotgun shells and printed directions to the Nelson’s home on a table the apartment, according to the affidavit. Detectives also found the keys from the Nelsons’ Honda.
Myers, charged with aggravated murder and other felonies, could have faced the death penalty should he have been convicted in a jury trial.
During court proceedings throughout 2009, Langer ordered that Myers, who is hearing impaired, be fitted for hearing aids and found that Myers is competent to stand trial.
In September, Langer held a motion-to-suppress hearing, during which various law enforcement members testified about Myers’ statements. Defense attorneys argued that those statements should be suppressed.
Langer ruled in November that all statements from interviews with detectives and to the media were admissible.
On Jan. 7, 2009, as he was being walked into the Montgomery County Jail, Myers told reporters that “it’s my fault” and “I apologize for the victim.”
Langer did rule to suppress one of Myers’ statements, this time to a correction officer, who asked where he got the cut on his back. Myers responded “that woman cut me, then I killed her.”
Langer found that Myers should have been given a warning that he had a right to remain silent before he was asked that question.
About the Author