SC father accused of attempted murder, slashing daughter’s throat
A Sumter father is charged with attempted murder after police say he cut his own daughter’s throat.
Sumter police charged Jeremiah Charles Owings, 39, on Thursday night after he was located hiding in an abandoned house in the Batesburg-Leeville area of Lexington County. Agents of the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and Lexington County sheriff’s deputies assisted in apprehending Owings, Sumter police said in a press release.
Officers responded to Owings’ home on Clematis Trail on Sunday night when he called 911 to report the injury to the teenager’s neck. Police found him at the home trying to stop the bleeding, they said. The girl was transported to a hospital where police say she is recovering after surgery.
Owings was initially charged with unlawful conduct toward a child and was released on $5,000 bond on Monday. Three other children between the ages of 6 and 15 were also removed from the home and placed in protective custody.
After an investigation, police say they determined Owings had “intended lethal harm when he slashed the girl with a folding blade,” according to the release. Warrants were issued Wednesday for attempted murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and resisting law enforcement officers serving a legal process, but officers were unable to locate him until Thursday.
More charges may be expected as the investigation continues, police say.
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