CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – State charges against a murderer on federal death row are being dismissed.
Today, Jimmy Richardson, the 15th Circuit Solicitor, said the state-level charges against Brandon Council are being dismissed with the possibility they could be restored if necessary. Council murdered two women, Katie Skeen and Donna Major, during a robbery at CresCom Bank in Conway in 2017.
Council was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in federal court a few weeks ago. The trial took three weeks. Council is now on death row waiting to be put to death.
Here’s the statement Richardson released to News13.
Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson announces that on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, he dismissed state charges against Brandon Council, who was federally convicted and sentenced to death in the killings of two Conway women during a bank robbery.
“The charges were dismissed with leave to restore at a future date if necessary,” Richardson said.
After speaking to the families of Katie Skeen and Donna Major, Richardson said they agreed that dismissing the charges with leave to restore was an appropriate outcome for the state charges against Council.
“They are in agreement with us that we dismissed the charges without prejudice and if needed, we can present the case to a Grand Jury for indictment and go forward on the state charges at a later date,” Richardson said. “We felt this was the best circumstances at this particular time.”
The women were fatally shot during a robbery in 2017 at CresCom Bank in Conway. After a three week trial in federal court, a jury convicted Council and then sentenced him to death. He will remain on federal death row.
