South Carolina father charged with attempted murder after burying infant alive in dog crate
An 11-month-old boy buried underground for 24 hours in Lexington, SC, has been released from hospital. His father faces attempted murder charges.
South Carolina infant found buried alive makes full recovery as father faces attempted murder charge
An 11-month-old boy who was buried underground in a wire dog crate for approximately 24 hours has been discharged from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, people.com reports. The child's father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, has been charged with attempted murder and a range of additional offences following the incident in Lexington, a town roughly 15 miles west of Columbia, South Carolina.
Koah Sharp was found wrapped in a towel inside a wire dog crate buried a foot beneath the ground on the property of Comer's father. He left hospital on Tuesday night, shortly after authorities located him during a large-scale search operation.
Father took child during caregiver handover
Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon outlined the sequence of events at a press conference on Monday, 10 November, and in an updated statement issued Tuesday after Comer was formally charged.
"Koah was in the care of Comer's mother. She left Koah with Comer to run an errand while another caregiver was coming over," Koon said. "When the caregiver got there, Comer was gone and Koah was with him."
Deputies subsequently travelled to the home of Comer's father, where they found baby toys but no sign of either Comer or his son. Surveillance footage later confirmed Comer's movements during the day, but the infant's whereabouts remained unknown.
Comer was arrested on Monday night. It was only at that point that authorities were able to begin searching specifically for Koah.
Over 100 personnel joined the search
More than 100 personnel drawn from a dozen law enforcement and public safety agencies took part in the search, Koon said. Searchers noticed freshly disturbed ground on Comer's father's property and concentrated their efforts on that area.
Shortly after they began to dig, they heard a baby crying.
"As you can imagine, the race was on. Everyone was trying to get him out," Koon said. "He immediately was placed in the care of EMS and transported to the hospital as soon as they got him out."
Koah's medical team has confirmed he is expected to make a full recovery.
Multiple charges, no court appearance yet
In addition to attempted murder, Comer faces charges of burglary, child neglect, violating his probation and transporting a child to avoid a custody proceeding. He has not yet appeared in court or entered a plea in relation to any of the charges. He remains in the custody of the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.
Koon said he hoped the boy would have no lasting memory of the ordeal.
"A lot of things were going in Koah's favour, and the good lord looked down on him in the last 24 hours, and hopefully, at 11 months old, he will not remember much of this as he grows older and just to have a great inspiring story to tell," Koon said.
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)