LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man accused of burying his 11-month-old son in a dog crate in a clump of scrubby pines was denied bond Thursday.
Michael Comer, 25, has been charged with attempted murder, burglary and unlawfully placing a child at risk in connection with the disappearance of Koah Sharp, who survived and is expected to make a full recovery.
Tyler Douglas, lead investigator for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, told Magistrate Gary W. Reinhart on Thursday morning that Comer showed no remorse for attempting to kill his son and tried to flee the state. Reinhart subsequently approved a public defender for Comer and set a hearing for Dec. 10.
Comer has been in custody in Lexington County since Monday, when his son was reported missing. An attorney has not yet been appointed for him.
Koah, who rescuers found after about 24 hours, was released from a hospital Tuesday night, Sheriff Jay Koon said.
John Comer said he’d opened his home to his son and grandson on Monday after Michael Comer said they needed a place to stay. He showed an Associated Press reporter the small hole on a neighbor's property where rescuers uncovered the child.
“God had to have laid in the ground with Koah for the entire, entirety of that time,” he said after Thursday's bond hearing. “Only God can deliver miracles in this fashion.”
Authorities haven’t revealed anything about Comer’s motive. He was sentenced in October to probation after pleading guilty to domestic violence involving the boy’s mother. Court records show that in May he pushed her from behind while she was holding Koah, causing the baby to hit a clothes dryer.
Koah’s parents “have had some situations,” the sheriff said.
“Children,” he said, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
Family members have identified the mother as Dezarae Sharp. The AP could not locate a phone number for her, and she has not responded to messages sent to her social media accounts.
In a 911 call released Thursday, Patricia Comer told a dispatcher that her son had “severe schizophrenia and bipolar and depression.” She said she had been “kindly worried” about leaving Koah with his father that morning. “He threatened to kill himself last night and asked me for some sleeping pills,” she told the dispatcher. “He kept making comments that he was going to take (unintelligible) to New York, which he cannot, because he’s on probation.”
But John Comer said his son, from whom he has been largely estranged, seemed perfectly rational when he picked him and Koah up and took them to his home. He said his son told him he had a job and a plan to care for Koah.
“He was not emotional,” John Comer said outside the law enforcement complex Thursday. “He was not excited. He was just, he appeared a loving, a loving and caring father. He fed the baby. He changed the baby’s diaper. He held the baby. The baby played for a while. He was in his right mind.”
Dozens of first responders scoured the countryside for the boy. After a full day of searching, authorities found freshly disturbed soil and heard cries from below, the sheriff said.
Koah likely survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel that was wrapped around the crate below ground, he said.
John Comer said the crate was “just a piece of junk” he had lying around his house. He said he has no “sympathy or pity” for his son, and shudders to think what might have happened had he not picked them up that day.
“Koah’s alive,” he said, choking back a sob. “He’s alive. That’s what matters.”
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Breed reported from Wake Forest, North Carolina.
