Today, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced Brandon Tyler Buchanan to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder, according to an announcement by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Buchanan, 33, who is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was additionally sentenced to five years of supervised release following his prison term and ordered to pay $888,500 in restitution to the victim's estate.
Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Carla Neadeau of the Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) joined U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making the announcement.
Court records and proceedings reveal that on November 11, 2022, CIPD officers responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting. Upon arrival, Buchanan admitted to the officers that he had shot someone. The officers located the victim, Kobe Toineeta, a short distance away behind a row of trees with five gunshot wounds. A Smith & Wesson Model M&P .9mm handgun, found later in Buchanan's apartment, was confirmed by laboratory tests to be the firearm used in the incident.
Buchanan pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on May 31, 2024, and remains in federal custody. He will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons once a federal facility is designated.
In the announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson expressed gratitude to the FBI and the Cherokee Indian Police Department for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Scott from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
