Woman on the run after guilty plea for role in burning two men alive, NC sheriff says
Police are looking for a woman who did not show up for her sentencing hearing Wednesday after pleading guilty for her role in killing two cousins in Western North Carolina, according to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.
Brandy Nicole Davis pleaded guilty to two counts of accessory after the fact in the September 2016 deaths, the sheriff’s office said.
Davis looked on as two cousins were robbed and forced into the trunk of a car, which was then set on fire, prosecutors said, according to multiple reports.
The sheriff’s office described Davis, 35, as 5-feet 7-inches and 230 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She goes by the name “Red Bone.”
“Never attempt to apprehend a fugitive yourself,” the sheriff’s office said, asking anyone with information to call police.
Davis and another woman pleaded guilty in the double murder case in March 2019, WSOC reports. The sentencing was delayed so the women could testify against two men charged in the case, according to the station.
Icey Chennell Gooden, 28, was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison last summer after she pleaded guilty to two counts each of second-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to WBTV.
Prosecutors say Spencer Murray, 29, and Albert Austin, 35, were forced into the trunk of a car and that was then set on fire, The News Leader reports.
“After the vehicle was set on fire, the two victims were kicking and screaming in the trunk,” Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lippert told the court last year, according to WSOC. “It looks like Brandy Davis looked into the rearview mirror as the flames engulfed the car.”
Two men, Scott Hemphill and Brian Robinson, still face charges in the case.
Police ask anyone with information on Davis to call the Burke County Sheriff’s Office at 828-438-5500 or 828-764-9530 or make an anonymous tip by calling Morganton/Burke Crimestoppers at 828-437-3333.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 8:43 AM with the headline "Woman on the run after guilty plea for role in burning two men alive, NC sheriff says."
