On a cold stretch of Lexington County, South Carolina, a father is accused of doing what almost no one can bear to picture: burying his 11-month-old son alive in a dog crate beneath scrubby pines. The boy, Koah, was found after roughly a day underground and is expected to recover, a fragile outcome that speaks as much to chance as to the search. The reasons remain unknown, and the family's own accounts of strain, illness and despair sit uneasily beside the silence of the authorities. For now the case rests with a magistrate who has refused bond, and with a court that will reconvene on December
SC Father Denied Bond After Allegedly Burying 11-Month-Old Son Alive in Dog Crate
An 11-month-old boy was buried alive in a dog crate and survived after about 24 hours, and is expected to make a full recovery.
Rescuers heard cries from beneath freshly disturbed soil
Mark
Start with the basics. What was decided Thursday?
Mimi
A magistrate denied bond to Michael Comer, 25, and approved a public defender. The next hearing is Dec. 10. He faces attempted murder, burglary and unlawfully placing a child at risk.
Mark
And the boy?
Mimi
Koah was found after about 24 hours, released from the hospital Tuesday night, and is expected to make a full recovery.
Luke
Let's be careful about what's established. The sheriff said the cool temperatures and an air pocket from a towel around the crate likely explain the survival. That's a likely explanation, not a medical finding we've seen.
Mark
Why did the investigator say he tried to flee?
Mimi
Tyler Douglas told the magistrate Comer showed no remorse and tried to leave the state. The 911 call mentions he talked about taking the child to New York, which his mother said he couldn't do on probation.
Luke
But that's one relative's account on a call, with an unintelligible stretch in it. It doesn't establish his intent, and we don't know how it fits with what Douglas described.
Mark
What about the mental health claims?
Mimi
His mother said he has severe schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, and that he'd threatened suicide the night before.
Luke
Those are her words to a dispatcher. No diagnosis or court finding has been reported, and authorities haven't offered a motive at all.
Mark
And the October probation?
Mimi
He pleaded guilty to domestic violence involving the boy's mother. The sheriff said the parents have had some situations and that children sometimes get caught in the middle.
Luke
That's context, not a cause. Nobody has linked it to what happened here.
Il Polso
- A 25-year-old man sits in custody, accused of burying his infant son alive, and the county is left reeling from how close the child came to dying.
- Dozens of responders combed the countryside for a day before fresh soil and faint cries led them to a hidden crate.
- The magistrate denied bond, the sheriff says the suspect showed no remorse and tried to flee, and a public defender has been assigned.
- Investigators have no stated motive, while a mother's 911 call paints a picture of mental illness and threats, leaving a hearing on December 10 as the next fixed point.
On a cold stretch of Lexington County, South Carolina, a father is accused of doing what almost no one can bear to picture: burying his 11-month-old son alive in a dog crate beneath scrubby pines. The boy, Koah, was found after roughly a day underground and is expected to recover, a fragile outcome that speaks as much to chance as to the search. The reasons remain unknown, and the family's own accounts of strain, illness and despair sit uneasily beside the silence of the authorities. For now the case rests with a magistrate who has refused bond, and with a court that will reconvene on December 10 to ask what could drive a parent to such a act.
A magistrate in Lexington County, South Carolina, has denied bond to Michael Comer, 25, who is accused of burying his 11-month-old son, Koah, alive in a dog crate beneath a clump of pines. Koah survived and is expected to make a full recovery, but the case that brought him to the brink has left the community searching for an answer that no one has yet provided.
The sheriff's investigator told the court that Comer showed no remorse and had tried to leave the state. Comer has been in custody since Monday, when the boy was first reported missing. Dozens of first responders spent most of a day searching, until investigators noticed freshly disturbed soil and heard cries beneath it. Rescuers dug the boy out, and the sheriff said he was clinging to life. A towel wrapped around the crate may have created the air pocket that kept him breathing.
Comer's father, John, opened his home to his son and grandson when they needed shelter. He showed an Associated Press reporter the hole where the child was found. "I cannot imagine how somebody could come to the point that that would be the right thing to do," he said.
Authorities have offered no motive. Comer was placed on probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence involving the boy's mother. A 911 call from Comer's mother describes severe mental illness, suicidal threats and a stated plan to take the child to New York, though those details come from a relative and not from any official finding. The next step is a hearing on December 10, when Comer is expected to have a public defender and the question of why this happened may begin to take shape.
A magistrate in Lexington County, South Carolina, on Thursday denied bond to Michael Comer, a 25-year-old man accused of burying his 11-month-old son alive in a dog crate beneath a clump of scrubby pines. The boy, Koah, survived and is expected to make a full recovery.
Tyler Douglas, the lead investigator for the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, told Magistrate Gary W. Reinhart that Comer showed no remorse for trying to kill his son and had tried to flee the state. Reinhart approved a public defender for Comer and set the next hearing for Dec. 10. As of Thursday, an attorney had not yet been appointed. Comer is charged with attempted murder, burglary and unlawfully placing a child at risk, and he has been in custody in Lexington County since Monday, the day the boy was reported missing.
Koah was found after roughly 24 hours. Dozens of first responders had searched the countryside for the child, who has reddish-blond hair. At the end of a full day, Sheriff Jay Koon said, authorities noticed freshly disturbed soil and heard cries coming from beneath it. Rescuers dug the boy out, and the sheriff told reporters he was "clinging to life" when freed. Koon said Koah likely survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel wrapped around the crate underground. The boy was released from the hospital Tuesday night.
John Comer, the suspect's father and the boy's grandfather, said he had opened his home to his son and grandson on Monday after Michael Comer said they needed a place to stay. On Wednesday he showed an Associated Press reporter the small hole on a neighbor's property where rescuers uncovered the child. "I cannot imagine how somebody could come to the point that that would be the right thing to do, or the thing to do at all," he told the AP.
Authorities have not said anything about a motive. The record does show that in October, Comer was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to domestic violence involving the boy's mother. The sheriff said Koah's parents "have had some situations," and added that children sometimes get caught in the middle.
A 911 call released Thursday adds some context. Patricia Comer, who described herself as the suspect's mother, told a dispatcher her son had "severe schizophrenia and bipolar and depression." She said she had been "kindly worried" about leaving Koah with his father that morning. According to her, he had threatened to kill himself the night before and asked her for sleeping pills. She also said he kept saying he was going to take the child to New York, which she noted he could not do because he was on probation. Part of the recording was unintelligible.
What remains open is why it happened. Investigators have not tied the case to any specific cause, and the mental health details come from a relative's call, not from any finding by authorities. The Dec. 10 hearing is the next scheduled step, and by then Comer should have a public defender representing him.
Citazioni salienti
I cannot imagine how somebody could come to the point that that would be the right thing to do, or the thing to do at all.— John Comer, the suspect's father, to the AP
Children sometimes get caught in the middle.— Sheriff Jay Koon, on the parents' history
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su New York Daily News ↗