‘Worst of the worst’: Death penalty again sought for NC man in Conway bank murders
A North Carolina man who shot and killed two employees at a Conway bank in 2017 appeared in court Monday about nine months after the state announced it would seek the death penalty against him.
The purpose of the hearing was to discuss a series of motions from Brandon Council’s defense as well as for the prosecution to begin the process of setting a schedule for his trial.
Council was initially sentenced to death row by a federal jury in 2017. But his sentence was reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after his and dozens of other death row inmates’ sentences were commuted by former President Joe Biden in 2024.
Following Biden’s decision, the state announced in September that it would refile its charges against Council after they were dropped in 2019.
Prior to the hearing, Council had filed a motion to represent himself. But in court Monday Council withdrew the motion and will continue to be represented by state Capital Defense Attorneys Boyd Young and Robert Bank and 15th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Ronald Hazzard.
15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson and Chief Deputy Solicitor Scott Hixon will be prosecuting the case for the state.
Richardson told reporters following the hearing that the state wanted to begin the process of scheduling the trial. The state believes council’s case fits the elements for a death penalty sentencing, he said.
“We don’t seek it often,” Richardson said. “We try to reserve that for the worst of the worst, and I think that I think that this fits that category.”
Family members of Donna Major and Katie Skeen, the two women who were shot and killed, were present during the hearing.
Council’s defense has until July 17 to respond to the state’s proposed schedule for Council’s trial.
The 2017 Conway bank murders
Council was convicted in 2019 for the murders of Donna Major and Katie Skeen, who both worked at the CresCom bank in Conway.
On Aug. 21, 2017, Council went into the bank’s branch on 16th Avenue and approached Major at the teller counter. He waited about 45 seconds before pulling out a gun and shooting Major twice.
Skeen screamed in her nearby office, and Council ran to her. Council shot Skeen from point-blank range and killed her.
Council then ran back to Major, who was on the floor behind the counter, and shot her in the head. He then robbed the bank. Police arrested Council a few days later in Greenville, North Carolina. Council was on the run for other robberies in North Carolina.
Council was the first person sentenced to death since federal officials announced they resumed carrying out executions. He was on death row in Indiana.
