Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009

Columbia police: Old murder case solved

Columbia police aren't saying how they have done it, but they announced Monday afternoon they have "solved" a nine-year-old murder.

Police claim Kevin Jermaine Mercer, 32, shot and killed Allon Tory Small outside his apartment on March 12, 2000. Small died two days later.

Mercer, a convicted killer, is on the state's Death Row for a 2002 Lexington County homicide.

"Investigators met with Mr. Small's family and the Richland County solicitor's office and it was determined that the case would be cleared without prosecution as Mercer is on Death Row for a 2002 homicide in Lexington County," city police announced in a news release Monday.

- John Monk

5 people rescued from sinking ship off N.C.

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. -The Coast Guard saved five sailors as their boat sank in the dark Atlantic Ocean.

The Virginian-Pilot reported Monday the Coast Guard was called after the sailboat Lazy Jack started taking on water about 30 miles south of Cape Lookout on Saturday night.

Ensign Caleb Peacock said a helicopter based in Elizabeth City and a rescue boat from Fort Macon raced to the 48-foot boat, which is based in Charleston.

The Coast Guard said rescuers found only a foot or two of the boat still above the surface. The helicopter hoisted one person to safety, but the other passengers chose to wait in their life raft for more than an hour until the rescue boat arrived.

- The Associated Press

Man plucked from boat stuck on jetty

CHARLESTON - The Coast Guard rescued a boater whose craft struck a jetty in Charleston Harbor.

The agency was called shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday by a boater who said his 34-foot catamaran had hit the north jetty.

Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Evanson said a helicopter and rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Charleston and a Charleston County Rescue boat responded.

Evanson said the helicopter flew Kenneth Bear to the Medical University of South Carolina hospital. Evanson told The (Charleston) Post and Courier that Bear did not appear to be seriously injured.

- The Associated Press

Teen found last week may have been strangled

WILLIAMSTON - An autopsy showed a teen whose body was found last week might have been strangled.

Media outlets reported Greenville County sheriff's deputies and police in Williamston continued to investigate the death of 17-year-old A'sha Rucker.

Greenville County Deputy Coroner Scott Ramsey said Sunday an autopsy found Rucker's body showed signs of strangulation. But Ramsey said it could take up to two months to determine the cause of death.

Rucker's body was found Friday in Greenville County. She had been missing since Wednesday when the junior failed to show up at Palmetto High School.

Services are planned for this afternoon in Belton.

- The Associated Press

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