Crime & Safety

Fundraiser Aimed at Helping Mitch Comer

Organizers are seeking more donors and vendors for the Nov. 10 event that will help support the 18-year-old Comer, who last month was found malnourished in a Los Angeles bus station.

The Paulding County 18-year-old at the center of a case involving years of alleged abuse will be the recipient of funds raised by an event next month.

A community fundraising event set for Saturday, Nov. 10, will support “The Mitch Overcomer Fund,” named after Mitch Comer, who on Sept. 11 was found by authorities in a Greyhound bus station in Los Angeles. At the time, the 18-year-old, whom authorities said appeared to only be 12 or 13, weighed only 87 pounds and was just over 5 feet tall.

Comer told authorities that his stepfather, Paul Comer, had given him $200 and a list of homeless shelters, then put him on a bus in Jackson, Miss. But the teen said his abuse spanned years and included confinement to his room and meals consisting of only small quantities of food. The young Comer also said he had been taken out of school in the eighth grade and had been forced to endure long hours in a disciplinary position—the top of his head against a wall, his fingers interlaced behind his head and his feet raised off the ground.

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Paul Comer and 39-year-old Sheila Marie Comer, Mitch’s mother, were indicted in a Paulding County courtroom earlier this week, charged with seven counts of cruelty to children, two counts of false imprisonment and one count of kidnapping. The two’s indictment came just over two weeks after they were denied bond.

The Nov. 10 event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Taylor Farm Park. In addition to a live auction at 2 p.m., the event will feature vendors, food, entertainment and raffles, including a 50/50 raffle.

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Organizers continue to seek vendors for the fundraiser as well as corporate and business sponsorships, which are available at varying levels.

Monetary donations for The Mitch Overcomer Fund are being accepted at any Wells Fargo branch under “The Mitch Over Comer Fund” account.

A fund also has been set up at Westside Bank. Paulding County District Attorney's Victim-Witness Advocates established that account to help Mitch Comer and his two sisters, Catrina and Lya. Paulding County Sheriff’s officials earlier this month reported that investigators were conducting forensic interviews with the sisters.

Mitch Comer is currently living with a local family.

Those seeking more information about the Nov. 10 event may contact Karen Pace at 404-821-6242; sponsorships and vendors, Cherie Clayton, at 770-668-4284; donations, Tonya Self, 678-260-7652; and entertainment, Kim Painter, 770-771-1932.

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