Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes was trying to kill Danville City Council member Lee Vogler when he set Vogler on fire Wednesday, according to a criminal complaint.
The document, filed in Danville General District Court, says that Buck-Hayes “during an interview admitted that he had dumped gasoline on Vogler” and that “his intention was to kill Vogler.”
Buck-Hayes, 29, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. He is being held in the Danville City Jail under no bond.
Police said a man entered the office of Showcase Magazine, where Vogler, 38, works as marketing director, doused him with a flammable liquid and set him on fire. According to police reports, the two men knew each other, and the attack stemmed from a personal matter and not from Vogler’s work with the city.
A first responder described the burns as covering more than half of Vogler’s body, according to an audio feed from Pittsylvania County Public Safety radio.
“Patient was doused in gas and set on fire, has full-thickness burns,” the first responder said on the recording. “Torso front, torso rear, both arms and one leg.”
At his arraignment Thursday morning, Buck-Hayes asked for a court-appointed lawyer. The court appointed Edward Lavado as defense attorney, according to an arrest warrant.
A preliminary hearing — when a judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence to send the case to a grand jury — has been set for 11:30 a.m. Sept. 30.
Court documents also show that Buck-Hayes moved to Danville in 2020 from England and that he has no family in the area other than an estranged wife. Buck-Hayes and his wife filed for divorce earlier this month, according to court records.
There has been no public update on Vogler’s condition. He was airlifted to a regional medical facility for treatment Wednesday, police said.
At a city event Thursday morning, city council members Bryant Hood and James Buckner said they had no further information to share about Vogler’s condition.
“We’re giving the family their space,” Hood said.
There had been some conversation about postponing the event — a state highway marker unveiling — but Vogler “would have wanted it to go on,” he said.
“We’re continuously praying, almost every hour on the hour, and that’s exactly what he would do for us,” Hood said.
