Police Investigating Suspicious Death of Summerville Woman

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) -- Authorities are investigating the death of a 37-year-old woman from Summerville, S.C., which is being considered suspicious.

According to the Post and Courier, Tabetha Grooms, 31, fainted while intoxicated on April 28. Paramedics and sheriff's deputies responded to the woman's home at about 10 p.m. that night.

Grooms apparently had been drinking for a long period of time, when she complained of feeling ill. According to the Post and Courier, she had started a shower when she fell. Her husband found her unconscious and called 911.

Deputies reported finding blood in the bathroom, but Grooms had suffered no injury that would cause bleeding.

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Police Seek Suspect for Cocaine Trafficking

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) -- A driver, who led police on a high-speed chase earlier this week, allegedly sold cocaine just before the chase.

According to the Post and Courier, a confidential informant purchased cocaine from the driver at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Monday. When a uniformed deputy approached the vehicle, the driver sped off in the direction of Interstate 26.

During the course of the chase, police say that the suspect threw a baggie containing a white substance out of the vehicle's window. According to the Post and Courier, a second discarded baggie was found and determined to contain cocaine.

The chase ended when police began to lose their radio communications signal.

Police have not yet identified the suspect, who is wanted for failure to stop for blue lights and trafficking cocaine.

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Parents Sue Over Son’s Unnecessary Sexual-Reassignment Surgery

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) -- The parents of an adopted 8-year-old are suing the state because their son was given unnecessary sexual-reassignment surgery when he was 16-months-old, The State reports.

Mark and Pam Crawfords’ adoptive son, who is identified only as “M.C.” to protect his identity, was born prematurely and abandoned by his birth mother. M.C. was born with intersex condition, meaning he had both male and female internal sex organs and “ambiguous genitalia.” One of every 2,000 children is born with intersex condition.

When M.C. was 16-months-old, and still in foster care, surgeons performed  sexual-reassignment surgery on him, removing his penis and testicles to “assign” him as a girl, despite not knowing what gender M.C. would grow up to identify with.

In the words of Pam Crawford, it was a “social emergency, not a medical emergency.”

The 8-year-old now identifies as a boy, meaning the doctors who performed the surgery, who according to medical records knew that the reassignment was unnecessary, guessed wrong.

The federal suit alleges that the surgery was medically unnecessary, and it violated M.C.’s right to make decisions about his body. A malpractice lawsuit is being brought against the hospital as well.

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Fleeing SUV Eludes Charleston Deputies After 60-Mile Chase

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) -- An SUV that was fleeing narcotics investigators from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office managed to get away from authorities after leading them on a 60-mile chase through the West Ashley district of Charleston, The Post and Courier reports.

Deputies were conducting a probe regarding the car on Monday around 7:50 p.m. on Magwood Drive. When the driver of the white Lincoln saw them, the SUV sped off, and would not comply with the deputies signals for it to stop.

Soon, three sheriff’s cruisers were in pursuit of the vehicle as it sped through downtown Charleston traffic before circling back into West Ashley. The chase lasted 60 miles over several jurisdictions, and reached speeds of 100 miles per hour.

The chase was called off on I-26. The pursuers reported losing sight of the Lincoln near the Interstate 95 interchange in Orangeburg County, in their radio communications. The deputies did not know which exit the SUV took.

Officials say they are continuing to investigate the incident.

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SC Dept of Natural Resources: Fewer Deer Killed by Hunters in 2012

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) -- Deer hunters in South Carolina killed fewer deer in 2012 than the year before, according to the recently released annual report from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

This past year, hunters bagged 217,854 white-tailed deer, down 4 percent from 2011, and 31.9 percent less than the record haul in 2002. The new number is in accordance with the trend of decreasing deer numbers since the survey started.

The department attributes the decrease in the number of deer killed to changes in habitat and an increasing coyote population resulting in fewer young deer reaching adulthood.

It also found that 28,211 coyotes and 26,674 wild hogs were killed by South Carolinians last year.

The study also asked hunters what weapon they used. It found that 78.7 percent hunters use centerfire rifles, 9.9 percent use shotguns, and 6.8 percent use bows. Kills with muzzleloaders, crossbows, and handguns accounted for less than 5 percent of the total harvest combined.

The survey went out to 25,000 South Carolina deer hunters, 14.8 percent of the license holding population.

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