Woman accused of having girl deliver drugs in Grove City

GROVE CITY — The case against an Ohio woman accused of using a teenage girl to deliver drugs in Grove City is moving to common pleas court.

Pamela Marie Dayton, 53, of Campbell, was charged Jan. 20 by Grove City police with endangering the welfare of children and making terroristic threats. She is to be arraigned April 11 before Mercer County President Judge Daniel F. Wallace.

District Judge Douglas E. Straub of Pine Township ordered the charges held over for common pleas court after a Feb. 8 preliminary hearing.

The girl told police on Jan. 13 that she delivered drugs for Dayton multiple times in 2022, often hiding them in her bra, according to a criminal complaint.

Dayton abused meth over the past year and left the drugs around her home along with broken light bulbs, little bags, glass pipes and foil, the girl said.

Police on May 13 responded to a report of drug activity at the Grove City home where Dayton was living.

Dayton told police she had been making fake drugs to teach the girl a lesson. The drugs turned over to police were later determined to be fake. She said she made drugs with salt and oregano “for reasons unknown.”

The girl told police that the drugs she delivered were real, and when authorities got involved, Dayton dumped the drugs and made fake drugs because she knew the police were coming.

Dayton made the girl delete pictures from her phone showing drugs, telling her that she would kill her if she didn’t lie to keep Dayton out of trouble, the girl said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Suspects are to be considered innocent until proven or adjudicated guilty in court.