Summary: Pamela May, 77, was found murdered and dismembered inside her childhood home in North Highlands after prosecutors say Darnell Erby befriended her while she lived alone. Authorities allege Erby killed May on June 15, 2022, then returned multiple times to dismember her and place remains into 11 black garbage bags; a woman who had been in his vehicle alerted police before he could remove them. Erby was convicted on June 17 of first-degree murder, mutilation and multiple burglary counts and sentenced to life without parole on Nov. 7. The defense contends Erby found May already dead during a burglary and that the coroner could not determine cause of death due to dismemberment.
Man Convicted After Befriending, Murdering and Dismembering 77-Year-Old in Her North Highlands Childhood Home
Sacramento County District Attorney's OfficePamela May
A Sacramento jury has convicted Darnell Erby in the brutal killing and dismemberment of 77-year-old Pamela May, whose remains were discovered inside the childhood home she returned to in North Highlands, California.
Prosecutors say May spent most of her life at a Field Street address in the Sacramento suburb. After her husband, Tom, was moved to a memory-care facility, May lived alone; she relied on a walker and — according to the prosecution — struggled with a severe hoarding disorder as she aged.
Sacramento Deputy District Attorney James Wax told PEOPLE that Erby encountered May while she was walking and offered help. "He basically asked her, 'Do you need a ride? Can I help you with something?' and she accepted," Wax said. Over the following weeks, prosecutors say, Erby — a convicted burglar who had been living intermittently on the streets — began helping May with groceries and heavy items.
Prosecutors allege that on the morning of June 15, 2022, Erby parked behind May's property while a female acquaintance waited in his Jeep. According to the indictment, Erby crawled through a gap in the back fence, entered the home, found May inside, bound her face and hands with her clothing and killed her. He is accused of leaving briefly to take property, then returning at least twice to dismember her body.
"He took his knife, and he went through the process of trying to decapitate her into a number of different pieces," Wax told jurors. "He put her body into 11 separate black garbage bags."
Before Erby could remove the bags from the property, the woman who had been in his vehicle alerted authorities, prosecutors said. Wax also described how investigators used phone records to narrow the time of death and noted the tragic detail that May had been in near-daily contact with her husband at the memory-care facility until she stopped responding.
Placer County District Attorney's OfficeDarnell Erby
Defense Account
Erby's attorney, Reid Kingsbury, denied that his client murdered May. Kingsbury told PEOPLE that Erby maintains he committed a burglary and then found May already dead amid the cluttered home. He said Erby initially told police he had known May to account for his fingerprints in the house.
Kingsbury also noted that the coroner could not determine a definitive cause of death because the body had been dismembered, and that May suffered from advanced heart disease and "fairly severe arterial sclerosis." The defense contends Erby fabricated the claim that he knew May to explain his presence inside the residence.
Verdict And Sentence
On June 17, a jury found Darnell Erby guilty of first-degree murder with the special circumstance that the killing occurred during a burglary. He was also convicted of mutilation and five counts of burglary, each with an allegation that he was armed with a deadly weapon.
On Nov. 7, Erby was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Note: This article summarizes the prosecution's account as presented at trial and the defense's stated position. Details are based on court testimony and reporting from local prosecutors and defense counsel.
