The former federal prosecutor who sent the man to death row in the case called out a “remorseless killer” following President Biden's decision Monday to commute the sentences of nearly all federal inmates facing the death penalty. He said it was difficult to see him being exempted from punishment.
Brandon Council of North Carolina was sentenced to death by a federal jury on October 3, 2019, after being found guilty of robbing and killing two women who worked at a South Carolina bank in 2017. .
Council was one of 37 convicted murderers who will spend life in prison without parole after Biden changed the classification of death sentences.
Derek Shoemake, a former South Carolina assistant district attorney and one of the federal prosecutors in the case against the council, told FOX News Digital that he was grateful for being able to pursue justice for victim Donna Major. said it was “one of the greatest professional honors” of his life. My heart breaks for Kathryn Skene, 59, 36, and her family following Biden's decision.
“Donna and Katie were amazing women, wonderful mothers, and beacons of light in their community. My thoughts and prayers are with their family today, and my thoughts and prayers are with their family as they process this news. I am heartbroken,” Shoemake said in a statement.
He also extended his thoughts and prayers to the team that “worked for over a year” to get justice for Major and Skene and “ensure that these ruthless killers receive a sentence that reflects the horror of their senseless crimes.” He also said that he was dedicating
According to a 2017 news release from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina (USAO-SC), on August 21, 2017, Council broke into a Crescom Bank in Conway, South Carolina, with the intent to rob a business and kill an employee. . ).
After getting inside, Council shot the bank teller, a major, multiple times with a revolver, USAO-SC said at the time. He then ran into Skene's office, where he worked as a bank manager, and shot Skene multiple times as he hid under his desk.
Before fleeing the bank, he stole two victims' car keys, bank cards and more than $15,000 in cash. He took one of the cars to the motel he was staying in, packed up his things and drove away.
“A legally imposed sentence, 400 miles away, will be erased after a jury of South Carolina men and women spent weeks listening to evidence, deliberating, and carefully determining the appropriate penalty. It's hard to see,” Shoemake said.
He also said it was painful for the victims' families to “celebrate another Christmas without their loved ones,” while the council said it was one of 37 federally convicted murderers to be killed. “We are celebrating a political victory,” he said.
Shoemake said he was focused on the “legacy of love, family and faith” that Major and Skene exemplified, rather than the political debate surrounding Biden's commutation of sentences.
“I pray for their families, as I always do, and I pray for the families of all the victims affected today,” he said.
In a White House statement announcing the commutation on Monday, Biden condemned the killer and his “despicable acts” and said he mourned the victims and their families who suffered “unimaginable and irreparable loss.” However, he said, “We cannot step back and leave things alone.'' The new administration will resume the executions that I stopped. ”
As President Biden's term draws to a close, only three people remain on federal death row. They are Tree of Life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
