COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A 5-year-old boy found dead in February was removed from his biological mother’s custody two years ago after she said she left him outside as punishment and hoped that he would be kidnapped.

Investigators found the body of Darnell Taylor in a Columbus sewage drain on Feb. 16, days after his disappearance triggered a statewide Amber Alert. His legal custodian, Pammy Maye, has been charged with murdering Taylor.

Maye became Taylor’s legal guardian in May 2023, according to Franklin County Children’s Services. Because most documents related to children’s services cases are not public records, much remains unknown about how, and why, Maye was granted custody.

But court records obtained by NBC4 show that in March 2022, children’s services requested custody of Taylor due to allegations that his biological mother abused and neglected him.

In a complaint to the Franklin County court, a children’s services caseworker detailed how police were called to Taylor’s mother’s house to check on him after a neighbor saw him outside in a stroller for more than an hour, crying for his mother. After making multiple threats of harm to herself and others, including her child, Taylor’s mother was involuntarily hospitalized.

Taylor’s mother told the caseworker that she left Taylor outside to discipline him, according to the complaint, and mentioned previous instances of physical abuse.

“She kept repeating she wanted her son to die,” the complaint read. “She was hoping he would be kidnapped, and that is why she left him outside in the stroller.”

NBC4 is not naming Taylor’s mother because she was never charged with a crime.

Maye was arrested in Cleveland after her car was found abandoned in Brooklyn. Last week, a grand jury indicted her on charges of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. She is being held on a $4 million bond and will undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the request of her attorney.