South Carolina authorities say the 25-year-old father of an 11-month-old boy who survived being buried alive has been charged with attempted murder.
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South Carolina authorities said Wednesday that the father of an 11-month-old boy who survived being buried alive in a dog crate for about a day has been charged with attempted murder.
Authorities said the child, Koah Sharp, was reported missing Monday in Lexington County, just west of Columbia, and spent about 24 hours underground.
Sheriff Jay Koon said the boy was released from the hospital Tuesday night and was being cared for by relatives.
Koon said Koah survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel wrapped around the crate.
Koon described finding the child after a search that began when authorities discovered freshly disturbed soil in the woods not far from Koah’s grandfather’s home.
The sheriff said officers dug and soon freed Koah, describing him as clinging to life, and said the boy was “screaming at the top of his lungs,” which he called “a good thing in the baby world.”
Koah’s father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, has been in custody since Monday night, authorities said. He faces attempted murder and other charges.
Investigators said deputies searched the grandfather’s home and found doors open and baby belongings inside, but did not see Comer or the child, and then began digging.
Authorities said surveillance video from several businesses in the area showed Comer without the infant on Monday afternoon.
Koon said Koah had been in the care of Comer’s mother, who left the boy in Comer’s care while running an errand and another caregiver was on the way.
Koon said that by the time the caregiver arrived, Comer and Koah were gone.
Authorities said Koah’s parents have had prior situations involving domestic violence charges.
Koon said, “Children,” sometimes “get caught in the middle.”
The sheriff said he did not know immediately whether Comer had a lawyer, and that a phone number could not be found for him.
Koah’s great-aunt, Amber Hammond, said authorities were “better now that we know that Koah is safe,” as she watched him be freed from the crate.
Hammond said Koah had talked about taking him to New York because “he didn’t want to be in the same state as the mom.”
Hammond also said Comer had been sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence and aggravated breach-of-peace charges related to an arrest in July.
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