People who partied with Brandon Council after murders testify in death penalty trial
People who encountered Brandon Council soon after he murdered two CresCom employees told the court Thursday they partied with him and went shopping to buy more gun ammunition the day after the shootings.
A federal jury convicted Council for robbing and killing two employees at the Conway CresCom on Aug. 21, 2017. The panel is now hearing arguments on whether Council should face the death penalty for his crimes. The government rested its case in the death penalty phase on Thursday afternoon.
Donna Major and Katie Skeen were shot and killed during the robbery.
Jalen Bynes and his brother Brandon Brown testified they met Council on Aug. 22, 2017. The siblings were at a Greenville, North Carolina, plasma donation center when Council approached and asked them to put a car he planned to buy in their name.
Brown said he blew off the request and went inside to donate. His brother stayed and listened to Council.
Council offered $100 to make the purchase, Bynes said. The two then went to a nearby car dealership where Council bought a white Mercedes. Bynes and Council then spent the day together making stops at Greenville businesses.
“He said he don’t like police and every time they got close, he got paranoid,” Bynes said.
The two went to a Dunham’s Sports store. There, they were seen on video surveillance near the ammunition section. Bynes testified he purchased .22 caliber ammunition — the same caliber bullets used during the CresCom robbery — at Council’s request. The video showed Bynes removing the ammunition box from a store shelf and walking to the counter with the package in his hand.
In the parking lot, Bynes said he took a picture of Council smiling, holding cash and posing in front of the Mercedes. That photo was sent to girls.
Later that day, Council and Bynes went to Council’s Greenville hotel room. They cleaned Skeen’s car, which Council stole after the bank robbery and drove to the Greenville hotel.
Bynes’ girlfriend, one of her teenage friends and Brown eventually joined Bynes and Council at the hotel. Brown and Bynes said they drank and smoked marijuana with the others. The two also saw in Council’s room a shirt that matched the one he wore during the robbery. Brown, his girlfriend and Bynes left after an hour and went home.
The other teen and Council, who was 32 years old at the time, stayed in the room and had sex.
The next morning Bynes again met with Council. The two went to two other hotels in the Greenville area. Outside of a Baymont hotel, Bynes said, police approached, saying they had a warrant for Council’s arrest.
Bynes said officers told them to put their hands in the air, which Bynes did and Council did not.
“He said ‘no’ and took off running,” Bynes said.
Police tackled Council after a short chase and arrested him. Bynes was detained, interviewed and eventually released.
During the questioning of lead FBI investigator Michael Connelly, the agent admitted Bynes committed several illegal actions, but police did not charge him in connection to the case.
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 3:26 PM.
