A former federal prosecutor in the case that sent Brandon Council to death row says it is difficult to see a “remorseless murderer” be relieved of his sentence following President Biden’s decision on Monday to commute nearly all federal inmates facing execution.
Council was sentenced to death by a federal jury on October 3, 2019, after he was found guilty of killing two women who worked at a South Carolina bank during a robbery in 2017. Derek Shoemake, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina and one of the federal prosecutors in the case, said it was “one of the greatest professional honors” of his life to pursue justice for the victims, Donna Major, 59, and Kathryn Skeen, 36.
Shoemake said that his heart aches for their families following Biden’s decision, which will allow Council to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole. He described the victims as “amazing women, wonderful mothers, and beacons of light in their community.”
Shoemake noted that it is difficult to see a sentence wiped away, especially after it was legally imposed by a jury of men and women from South Carolina who spent weeks listening to evidence, deliberating, and carefully deciding the appropriate punishment. He expressed sympathy for the victims’ families, who will now have to celebrate another Christmas without their loved ones, while Council enjoys a “politcal victory” due to his commutation.
Shoemake’s thoughts are with the families of the victims, as well as the team that worked to get justice for Major and Skeen, who ensured that a “remorseless murderer” received a sentence that spoke to the horrific nature of his senseless crimes.