POLAND — A 33-year-old Owen County woman is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge after a fight along a private road near State Road 42 early Saturday resulted in the death of another female.
Samantha Mae Mayhew is being held on $30,000 cash bond at the Owen County Jail in connection with the death of Kiersten Moore, whose age and address have not been released by authorities.
Moore was reportedly knocked unconscious in an altercation with Mayhew and was pronounced dead at Putnam County Hospital early Saturday after the 12:30 a.m. incident unfolded at a private residence in northern Owen County.
An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday to determine cause of death. No details have yet been announced.
The victim was described in the probable cause affidavit as the girlfriend of Mayhew’s brother Taylor.
Responding Owen County deputies first encountered Mayhew walking in the roadway with blood on her face and clothes and a laceration to her right cheek. She also reportedly smelled of alcohol and showed signs of slurred speech and poor balance, authorities said.
Other individuals at the scene around a fire pit outside the residence said they initially thought the victim had been knocked out but when she did not wake up, they noticed she was not breathing, called 911 and started CPR. Moore had no obvious visible injuries, deputies noted upon arrival.
Several people who witnessed the incident said they saw Mayhew on top of Moore during the fight, possibly having the victim in a chokehold.
One of those who witnessed the fight also attempted to separate Mayhew and the victim and told police Mayhew grabbed Moore’s hoodie during the altercation, sending them tumbling toward a rock pile where Moore would later be found unconscious.
Authorities do not believe it was Moore who bloodied Mayhew during the struggle but was instead another individual at the scene.
It was suggested the incident began after Moore made a comment about Mayhew not having custody of her own child, which caused the suspect to become aggressive, the probable cause affidavit notes.
Mayhew appeared via Zoom before Owen Circuit Court Judge Donald VanDerMoere, a former Putnam County deputy prosecutor, who set a pretrial conference in her case for April 16 with a jury trial scheduled for Aug. 18.
Spencer attorney Jacob Fish was appointed pauper counsel for the defendant, who not only has a lengthy criminal history in Owen County but according to the legal website Doxpop has had 14 Putnam County court cases, including drug and alcohol issues as well as two counts of battery causing bodily injury that were pleaded down to one Class A misdemeanor.