STATE BRIEFS

Two men

found dead

LADSON - Berkeley County deputies say a gas generator was found in a Ladson home where two men died.

Authorities think carbon monoxide poisoning could have killed the men but are awaiting autopsy results for a final determination.

Deputy Coroner George Oliver tells The (Charleston) Post and Courier the generator was the only source of power in the home and was running lights, a refrigerator and a portable heater.

Oliver says the generator wasn't running and the home did not smell like gas when authorities arrived Friday afternoon.

Both men appeared to be in their 30s. One was from Guatemala and the other from Mexico. Oliver is not releasing their names until their families are notified.

Fifth-graders

suspended

COLUMBIA - Officials say five fifth-grade girls from Columbia have been suspended from school after they drank liquor that one of them brought on a field trip.

Brennen Elementary School principal Marian Crum-Mack says the students took a few sips from a small bottle of liquor one of them got from a friend.

Crum-Mack says the girls did not drink enough to be intoxicated during the class trip to South Carolina ETV on Thursday.

The principal sent letters home to parents of fifthgraders telling them what happened.

The girls have been suspended and will have a hearing before school district officials. Their punishment could range from counseling to expulsion.

4-year-old dies

in house fire

SUMTER - Officials say a faulty heater may have sparked a house fire that killed a 4-year-old boy.

Sumter County Coroner Verna Moore says Nashawn Spencer died Friday night from carbon monoxide poisoning and burns. The death was ruled accidental.

A report from the Sumter Fire Department says there were no smoke detectors in the home.

Nashawn's mother, 25- year-old Tiesha Spencer, told The (Sumter) Item that she was coming out of her bedroom when she smelled smoke in the hallway.

She says she could tell her son's bedroom was on fire, but the smoke was so thick she couldn't find the boy. Reports indicated the boy was found in his bedroom closet. Tiesha Spencer, her 1- year-old daughter and a friend who lives in the home were able to get out safely.

Inmate in boxers

escapes custody

CAMDEN - Officials are looking for a prisoner who climbed a razor-topped fence to escape the Kershaw County Detention Center, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a pair of socks.

Kershaw County sheriff's Capt. David Thomley says 23-year-old Joshua J. Seibles of Columbia escaped just after noon Saturday, discarding his prison uniform on the roof of the building.

Surveillance video shows Seibles in his boxers and socks, but he was not discovered missing for an hour.

Thomley says Seibles may be headed to Columbia, about 30 miles west of Camden.

Seibles was being held for Richland County on charges of burglary, larceny, violation of probation and assaulting a correctional officer. He also has pleaded guilty to federal gun charges related to the robbery of a Columbia gun store.