Missing Orangeburg child found safe, father faces murder charge, sheriff says
A missing child from Orangeburg has been found safe, while her father is now facing a murder charge, the Orangeburg County sheriff announced Friday.
It had been nearly two weeks since 5-year-old Aspen Jeter was reported missing and her mother’s body was found inside their Orangeburg home on Nov. 24.
Columbia resident Antar Antonio Jeter, 46, was believed to have his child, and they were spotted twice in North Carolina last week, according to the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Aspen has a rare neurological disorder that leaves her unable to speak or move on her own, according to attorney Justin Bamberg, who was hired to assist the girl’s family in their search.
On Friday, Aspen was found by local police in Danville, Virginia. Jeter was taken into custody without incident and will be charged with murder as well as larceny of a motor vehicle, said Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell in a Friday press conference.
Working with the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service, law enforcement officers were able to identify transactions linked to Jeter that happened in Danville on Thursday night. Local police then located a vehicle matching the description of a car driven by Jeter in a local hospital parking lot.
“In similar cases that have happened, there have not been happy endings,” Ravenell said Friday. “I got my Christmas present early.”
Law enforcement officers began searching for the child on Thanksgiving when her mother’s body was found in an Orangeburg home during a welfare check, the sheriff’s office said.
An autopsy showed that 46-year-old Crystal Jumper, who was publicly identified by the Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office, was shot in the upper body. The Orangeburg woman’s death is considered a homicide, the sheriff’s office said on Nov. 25.
Jumper had not been seen since Nov. 1, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jeter had been staying with Aspen and her mother at the home in the 200 block of Louise Drive, according to an incident report. Jumper’s cousin, who requested the welfare check, told deputies Jeter was there “due to his lights being cut off at his residence,” according to the incident report.
The cousin also told deputies Jumper and Jeter “do not get along with each other,” the incident report said.
On Friday, Bamberg said Aspen Jeter would “be all right” once she is reunited with her family. Although her mother is dead and her father is likely to now be incarcerated, Bamberg said he would work to keep Aspen out of the foster care system.
“Because of her condition, she likely does not understand what’s happening,” Bamberg said.
This story was originally published December 9, 2022 at 4:18 PM.
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