Police arrest Ohio man in slaying of boy’s mom, 29

DAYTON (AP) — A young mother struggled with an intruder before she was shot and killed in her home and the gunman ran off with her 4-year-old son, a sheriff said Monday in announcing an arrest in the case.

The boy was found unharmed Friday at a highway rest area about 90 minutes after the slaying of Jennifer Nelson, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said. Investigators were looking at several possible motives, including robbery, he said.

Two computers were taken from the victim’s home. Plummer said Nelson, 29, was found lying on the hallway floor after an apparent struggle.

Charlie W. Myers, 22, of Columbus, was arrested on a warrant for aggravated murder after confessing to involvement in the case, Plummer said. He didn’t elaborate.

There was no information on whether Myers, who was being held in the Franklin County jail in Columbus, had an attorney.

The gunman drove little William Nelson about 40 miles to an Interstate 70 rest stop in central Ohio, where travelers found him wandering around but unharmed.

The boy knew his address and phone number to his house, Plummer said. His description of the gunman, which included the man’s height, also helped investigators get a good start on the case. Plummer did not say whether the boy witnessed the shooting.

Plummer said the boy told investigators, “Somebody killed my mom.”

“We’re fortunate he (the gunman) didn’t hurt the child,” Plummer said. “I don’t know why he took the child other than maybe the child was a witness and he was worried about getting out of there and maybe intimidating the child somewhat.”

Plummer said the boy is staying with family members.

“He’s been through a lot, but he’s doing fairly well right now,” he said.

Mike and Judith McConnell, a couple from Maryland, called police after finding the boy at the rest stop.

They said he told them a strange man had entered the home and shot his mother.

Myers was one of three people the FBI took into custody Sunday evening at a house near Ohio State University in Columbus, Plummer said.

He said authorities are still questioning one other person, but declined to give details.

Plummer would not say how authorities found Myers. He said a possible murder weapon had been located, and he said he believed Myers was the only intruder at Nelson’s house and that Myers dropped the boy off at the rest stop.

Vickie Nelson, the boy’s grandmother, said earlier that her son Eddie’s car had been stolen in Columbus about a week and a half before Christmas.

She said she believed the person who stole the car obtained personal information about where the Nelsons live. Police recovered the car Friday near the family’s home in Dayton but said they were still investigating whether there is a connection.

Nelson’s husband, Eddie Nelson, was at work at the time she was slain.

On NBC’s “Today” on Monday, Eddie Nelson said his son was “still terrified. I don’t know that he fully understands what’s going on. He’s just in total shock right now.”

Explaining how the little boy was able to give specific information to authorities, Nelson said: “He’s a very sharp kid. He’s like a sponge; he just soaks everything up. My wife, especially, insisted that we work on him learning his address, learning the phone numbers, just important things ... a lot of things people would take for granted, and it saved him.”