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.
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authorities → survive → Carolina
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.
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Koon → report → recovery
The boy’s 25-year-old father, Michael Comer, faces attempted murder and other charges.
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father → face → murder
He’s been in custody since Monday, when Koah disappeared.
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Koah → disappear → Monday
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.
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who → survive → 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.
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sheriff → search → ground
“As you can imagine, the race was on.
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race → imagine → ?
Everyone was trying to get him out,” Koon said.
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Koon → try → him
Koah was soon freed and “clinging to life”, the sheriff told reporters.
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sheriff → free → reporters
“He was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world, I would guess,” Koon said.
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Koon → scream → world
Comer was arrested while hiding in a building in Batesburg-Leesville, about 50 kilometres west of Columbia.
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Comer → arrest → Columbia
It wasn’t immediately known if he had a lawyer who could respond to the charges.
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who → know → charges
A court hearing was planned for Thursday.
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hearing → plan → Thursday
“We’re better now that we know that Koah is safe,” his great aunt, Amber Hammond, said.
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aunt → ’re → ?
She was watching as he was freed from the crate.
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he → watch → crate
Authorities said Koah had been in the care of Comer’s mother.
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Koah → say → mother
She had to run an errand and left the boy in Comer’s care while another caregiver was on the way.
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caregiver → have → way
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone, and Koah was gone with him,” the sheriff said.
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sheriff → get → him
Surveillance video from several businesses in the area showed Comer without the baby on Monday afternoon, Koon said.
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Koon → show → afternoon
Koah’s parents “have had some situations” regarding domestic violence charges, the sheriff said.
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sheriff → have → charges
“Children,” he said, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
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he → say → 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”.
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he → say → mum
When Koah vanished, she and others assumed that Comer had given the boy to someone.
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Comer → vanish → someone
“We had no idea something like this would happen at all,” Hammond said.
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Hammond → have → this
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.
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records → sentence → July
Prosecutors dropped a gun charge as part of the plea deal.
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Prosecutors → drop → deal
He also got credit for spending more than two months in jail.
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He → get → jail
At nearly a year old, Koah had been trying to stand on his own, said Hammond, who cared for him last weekend.
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who → try → him
And he already had some TV favourites.
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he → have → favourites
“I’d go to feed him, and it had Mickey Mouse on,” Hammond said.
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Hammond → go → Mouse
“You can’t feed him and have Mickey Mouse on at the same time.”
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You → feed → time
AP
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what → get → world
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