XENIA — A woman hopes the man accused of killing her mother with a railroad spike does not get a new trial.
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A Greene County Jury convicted David Lee Myers of the 1988 murder.
In 2020, lawyers with the Innocence Project claimed there was never-before-tested DNA found on Amanda Maher’s body and the handle of the railroad spike used to kill her.
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Myers was granted a new trial, and a judge overturned his conviction and sentence.
“Just left me feeling lost and just fighting for justice for my mom, which I never thought I would have to do. Not 37 years later,” Sarah Sparkman, Maher’s daughter, said.
Sparkman was just 8 months old when her mother was killed.
Police discovered 18-year-old Maher with a railroad spike through her head.
They arrested Myers, who was reportedly the last person seen with her, and later found Maher’s wallet in his car.
But Myers’ attorney said a new trial may reveal they arrested the wrong person.
“A strong possibility exists that a jury would reach a different verdict if a new trial was held,” Natalie Olmstead, Myers’ attorney, said.
Prosecutors said that Ohio BCI and state-approved labs wouldn’t test the small amount of DNA as it wouldn’t yield usable results.
They asked a three-judge panel to overturn the judge’s decision to grant Myers a new trial and to send Myers back to prison.
“The jury got it right in 1996, and there’s no reason to fix what wasn’t broken,” Megan Hammond, Greene County assistant prosecuting attorney, said.
Sparkman agrees and thinks Myers should still be on death row.
Even if he’s granted a new trial, she doesn’t understand why Myers was released from prison.
“That’s not safe, that’s not a smart decision,” she said.
The three-judge panel will consider the lawyer’s arguments and issue a written decision.
That will either mean a different appeal or a new trial.
We will continue to follow this story.
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