Lexington : The father of an 11-month-old boy who survived being buried alive in a dog crate for about 24 hours has been charged with attempted murder in South Carolina, authorities say.
Koah Sharp, who was reported missing in Lexington County, just west of Columbia, was released from a hospital on Tuesday night (US time) following a rescue and was expected to make a “full recovery”, Sheriff Jay Koon said.
The boy’s 25-year-old father, Michael Comer, faces attempted murder and other charges. He’s been in custody since Monday, when Koah disappeared.
The boy survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel that was wrapped around the crate below ground, said Koon, who released additional harrowing details about the desperate search by nearly 100 first responders.
After a full day of searching on Tuesday, authorities found freshly disturbed soil in the woods not far from the home of the boy’s grandfather – and heard cries from below ground, the sheriff said.
“As you can imagine, the race was on. Everyone was trying to get him out,” Koon said.
Koah was soon freed and “clinging to life”, the sheriff told reporters.
“He was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world, I would guess,” Koon said.
Comer was arrested while hiding in a building in Batesburg-Leesville, about 50 kilometres west of Columbia. It wasn’t immediately known if he had a lawyer who could respond to the charges. A court hearing was planned for Thursday.
“We’re better now that we know that Koah is safe,” his great aunt, Amber Hammond, said. She was watching as he was freed from the crate.
Authorities said Koah had been in the care of Comer’s mother. She had to run an errand and left the boy in Comer’s care while another caregiver was on the way.
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone, and Koah was gone with him,” the sheriff said.
Surveillance video from several businesses in the area showed Comer without the baby on Monday afternoon, Koon said.
Koah’s parents “have had some situations” regarding domestic violence charges, the sheriff said.
“Children,” he said, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
Hammond said her nephew had talked about taking the baby to New York because “he didn’t want to be in the same state as the mum”. When Koah vanished, she and others assumed that Comer had given the boy to someone.
“We had no idea something like this would happen at all,” Hammond said.
Comer was sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence and aggravated breach-of-peace charges related to an arrest in July, Lexington County online court records show.
Prosecutors dropped a gun charge as part of the plea deal. He also got credit for spending more than two months in jail.
At nearly a year old, Koah had been trying to stand on his own, said Hammond, who cared for him last weekend. And he already had some TV favourites.
“I’d go to feed him, and it had Mickey Mouse on,” Hammond said. “You can’t feed him and have Mickey Mouse on at the same time.”
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