Amber Owens’ Funeral
Visitation: 10 a.m. Friday
Calling Hour: noon-1 p.m. Friday
Funeral: 1 p.m. Friday
Address: Ethan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church
4000 Shiloh Springs Road, Clayton
The husband of a Harrison Twp. woman whose body was found Thursday denied accusations by her family that he was involved in her death.
Amber Owens, 23, was found in a wooded area near Post Town Road in Trotwood. The mother of three had been missing since Oct. 21 and her car was found Nov. 4 on Arlene Avenue in Dayton — several miles from where her body was located by Montgomery County road crews. When she disappeared, Owens’ grandmother, Bette Roebuck, and twin sister, Alicia Owens, said they’ve done multiple searches, none of which Owens’ husband, 22-year-old Dominique Mays, attended. Roebuck said her granddaughter had a volatile relationship with Mays, and she believed he was responsible for her death.
“I think he’s just carrying out threats he made to her before. That’s what I feel,” she said.
In an exclusive interview with the newspaper, Mays admitted to not assisting with searches because he does not get along with his wife’s family. But he denied killing her.
“I know I loved my wife. I know she loved me. I have no reason to kill her. Why would I kill her and spend the rest of my life in prison?” he said.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Mays’ death as a homicide unless evidence suggests otherwise, said Maj. Daryl Wilson. However, no suspects have been named in the case. Autopsy results could take six to eight weeks to determine how Owens’ died.
The two had what Mays and Owens’ family described as a volatile relationship. Mays was charged with felony domestic violence against Owens in 2013 and a temporary protection order was granted for Owens. However, both were dropped after a grand jury failed to indict Mays on the charges, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records. Their violent history is why Mays said he believes Owens’ family blames him for her death.
“(It’s) probably because (of the) many domestic violence (incidents) we had, as many fights as we had, as many times as I got in trouble. A bunch of different things,” Mays said. “Yeah, I have hit her before. She hit me before. When I hit her, as soon as I go to jail, a couple of days later she’d come to the jail. She always visited me every time.”
The couple hadn’t lived together since the summer, when Owens moved out with her daughter from a previous relationship and her two sons with Mays to live with her grandparents in Harrison Twp. However, Mays said he still talked to Owens everyday, and he said he saw her the day she disappeared. While he regrets not telling her how much he cared for her, Mays said he will “just do everything I messed up with her for my sons.”
Owens’ funeral has been scheduled for Friday at Ethan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4000 Shiloh Springs Road in Clayton. Visitation is at 10 a.m. and calling hour is from noon to 1 p.m., followed by the funeral.
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