Father accused of burying 11-month-old boy alive denied bond

A South Carolina man accused of burying his 11-month-old son alive in a dog crate 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.

Tyler Douglas, lead investigator for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, told Magistrate Gary W. Reinhart on Thursday that Comer showed no remorse for allegedly attempting to kill his son and tried to flee the state, according to The Associated Press.

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Reinhart approved a public defender for Comer and set a hearing for Dec. 10.

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Comer has been in custody in Lexington County since Monday, when his son was first reported missing.

Sharp, who rescuers found after about 24 hours, was released from a hospital Tuesday night, Sheriff Jay Koon said.

Sharp is with family members and, according to information provided to investigators by his medical team, he is expected to make a full recovery, Koon added.

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The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said that Comer was found and arrested on a burglary charge and resisting arrest late Monday night but police said that Sharp was not with him.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Koon told reporters that Sharp was found alive in a dog crate that was wrapped in a towel.

“Just a few moments ago we found little Koah Sharp, 11-months-old, buried alive, clinging to life, crying… He was buried in a dog crate, wrapped in a towel that, by the grace of God, probably provided enough air for him to survive — our estimation is for the last 24 hours under that dirt,” Koon said.

Koon said the wire crate was about two feet by two feet and buried in a shallow hole.

Sharp, described as “a bright boy with reddish blond hair, blue eyes, approximately 20 pounds and often has a pacifier,” was in the care of Comer’s mother on Monday, police said.

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“Michael came over. She had to run an errand. Another caregiver was coming. She left him in Michael’s care. By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone and Koah was gone with him,” Koon explained.

Deputies went to Comer’s father’s home Monday and found the doors open and baby belongings in the house but no sign of Comer or the child, Koon told reporters.

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There was a search party of nearly 100 police officers, firefighters and other officials looking for Sharp, according to Koon.

Searchers found a site close to Comer’s father home on Tuesday in the woods with freshly disturbed earth, according to police.

“As they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying. So, as you can imagine, the race was on,” Koon said. “Everybody was done there trying to get him out. Certainly he is out and under the care of EMS now at the hospital.”

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“Hopefully at 11 months old, he will not remember much of this as he grows older, just to have a great inspiring story to tell,” Koon said.

John Comer said he’d opened his home to his son and grandson on Monday after Comer said they needed a place to stay.

“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.”

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, according to The Associated Press.