MiddletownJournal.com

DAYTON — Nearly six months before Charlie W. Myers allegedly murdered Jenny Nelson and abducted her son, the Columbus man promised a Franklin County judge he would turn his life around and no longer steal cars.

"It is important to me to live the right way and to do the right things," Myers wrote to Judge Michael J. Holbrook in a July letter describing his progress since his April sentence on receiving stolen property, a car.

Myers, 22, apparently didn't keep his word for long.

Investigators believe Myers stole Nelson's Honda in mid-December in Columbus while she was there with her husband, Eddie, for a concert. He allegedly drove to Harrison Twp. on Friday night, Jan. 2, killed Nelson in her home at 80 Redder Ave. and abducted her 4-year-old son.

He left the Honda behind and stole a car belonging to a Nelson family member and headed east. He then dropped the boy off at a highway rest area near the Madison and Clark county line.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said Monday that Myers showed little remorse while confessing to his involvement in the crime after he was taken into custody around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

"(Myers) is cooperating with us in the investigation," Plummer said.

Plummer said robbery could be a motive, but he said Myers took just two computers and Nelson's cell phone, leaving other valuables behind.

Myers appeared in a Franklin County courtroom Monday afternoon for an extradition hearing with a swollen right eye and cheek. Plummer said he doesn't know how Myers got the injuries, he said.

Myers has been placed in protective custody at the Franklin County Jail and is expected back in Montgomery County before Wednesday. Plummer said the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office is expected to hear charges this morning, Jan. 6.

Troubled youth

A background check found Myers grew up around central Ohio, living in Marysville and Columbus for the past five years.

He has trouble hearing and speaking and graduated from the Ohio School for the Deaf in 2004, according to his MySpace page.

Myers posted on another Web site that he is a "shy" person who grew up in a "violent environment."

"He does have a juvenile record as well, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor," Plummer said.

In court records related to Myers' April sentencing, Myers' attorney William S. Ireland wrote that Myers' childhood "was decidedly abnormal, fraught with hardship" and "unspeakable abuses" by his parents.

"At age 7, Charlie began smoking marijuana and a year later he initiated the abuse of alcohol," Ireland wrote. "He first attempted suicide at age 11."

Plummer said Myers has had no connection to the Montgomery County area before this incident.

Staff Writer Laura Bischoff contributed to this story. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2494 or lsullivan@DaytonDailyNews.com.