SC moves to revive death-penalty in double murder after federally commuted sentence

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — A judge has started the process for South Carolina to pursue the death penalty against Brandon Council, the man accused of killing two women during an armed bank robbery at CresCom Bank in 2017.

Council is charged federally with murder after authorities said he walked into the bank to commit an armed robbery that ended with two employees being shot and killed.

He was originally sentenced to death in federal court, but the Biden administration commuted the sentences of 37 death row inmates, changing their status to life in prison.

With Council no longer facing execution under the federal sentence, South Carolina is moving to revive state charges that had been dropped before he was federally charged.

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In court, prosecutors sought to add dates to the case calendar as they pursue the death penalty again.

Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said the state had initially been looking at April 2027 for a trial date, but the judge denied that as too soon.

“We were being as aggressive as we could be. But by July 17th, the defense will give their order. We will turn in another order, and we’ll see if we can’t come to an agreement. That way, the judge doesn’t have a lot of problems. It’s just an agreement between the two sides,” Richardson said.

During the hearing, the judge and the state were asked about any bias before moving forward.

Richardson said, “I don’t know him. So he’s from a different state, and, they ask us to let them know about any bias. I don’t know about any bias. I just, you know, it’s whatever the crime is.”

He added, “The main thing for me was to get the schedule in order so that we know where we’re going, and it looks like we’re on the road to that, but we’re not there yet.”

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At one point, Council sought to represent himself in court and objected to statements made by the prosecution.

By the end of the hearing, he changed his mind and accepted representation.

Richardson said he does not expect the trial until 2028.