Myers’ attorneys argue that new DNA evidence and expert opinions point to Myers’ innocence in the crime, specifically that Myers’ DNA did not match male DNA that was located on the railroad spike used to kill Maher and on one of rocks used in the attack. DNA testing was conducted on the rocks and the spike in 2021.
In an 84-page filing in Greene County Common Pleas Court, lawyers for Myers say that the State of Ohio, which prosecuted the case, relied on “unreliable and faulty forensic science to obtain Myers’ conviction.”
In the state’s opposition to Myers’ new trial request, prosecutors argue that no “reasonable factfinder” would have found Myers not guilty or ineligible for the death penalty for several reasons, including the fact that Myers was the last person seen with Maher, had her wallet, confessed to the homicide to fellow inmates, and had motive to commit the crime.
On more procedural grounds, prosecutors for the state also said Myers was aware at the time of the 1996 trial that DNA testing existed and that it was not performed on the rocks or the railroad spike.
Lawyers for both Myers and the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment publicly Friday as the weekslong evidentiary hearing proceeded.
Sarah Sparkman was 8 months old when her mother Amanda Maher was killed at age 18. Now 36, Sparkman has become the voice for a mother she knows only through pictures and mementos saved by her grandmother, Alice Maher.
“Regardless of whatever happens, it’s going to be a long road. Definitely one I didn’t think I would be taking after 30 years,” she said.
Sparkman was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. Her grandmother encouraged Maher to return from Florida to Ohio, because it was “a great place to raise a child,” she said. Maher’s killing occurred just a few months after the move.
Sparkman’s grandmother, now deceased, carried much guilt with her throughout the years, Sparkman said.
When Sparkman was 16, an initial execution date was set for Myers, though it was later stayed. At that time, she began collecting documents about her mother’s death from Greene County.
“I think that’s when I finally took a lot of responsibility on my shoulders,” she said.
“I remember pulling out the coroner’s reports and all that stuff, and again, I was like ‘this is too much,” she said. “Now, I found myself kind of opening it back up … it’s information. If there’s a man fighting for his innocence, I want to have all the information on my side.”
Sparkman was notified last year of the potential of an evidentiary hearing, news which brought a host of emotions, she said.
“I just was like, ‘Can I even do this?’ ” she said. “I don’t think I need to see some of the things that were there. I think that would have been very hard, and I knew it in my heart, but I don’t think I wanted to admit it.”
The judge’s decision on whether Myers will be retried might not come for several months. Regardless of the outcome, Sparkman says she will continue to seek justice for her mother.
“My main thing, of course, is obviously being a voice for my mom,” Sparkman said. “Because there’s new evidence, I believe anybody has a right to another trial. I’m preparing myself that that’s what’s going to happen.”
History of the murder
Maher, a mother of one, was 18, pregnant and living in Caesarcreek Twp., according to court filings and Dayton Daily News reports at the time. During the early morning hours of Aug.4, 1988, Maher was found barely alive after she had been strangled and with a railroad spike driven through her temple. She died shortly after while being flown to a hospital.
Maher had been out drinking with her boyfriend, Glenn Smith, and with Myers, then 23, at two bars. Shortly after 1 a.m., Smith was arrested at one of the bars.
A police officer reported that some minutes later, he saw Myers walking with Maher up Home Avenue in the direction of the railroad tracks. He was arrested with both Maher’s and Smith’s wallets in his possession, and charged days later.
By 1991, Myers hadn’t been prosecuted, and charges were dropped. However, in 1993, Myers was reindicted for murder after serving time for a separate forgery conviction. After multiple delays, Myers was found guilty in 1996 and the jury recommended the death penalty.
Myers has sat on death row for 28 years.
After his sentencing in 1996, Myers’ sister, Freda Chambliss, told the Dayton Daily News that Myers has shown no remorse following the sentencing because he did not commit the homicide.
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