A grand jury indicted Shotsie Buck-Hayes, who is accused of setting Danville City Council member Lee Vogler on fire, on three charges Monday. Two were existing charges, and the third was brought by the Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney on Monday morning.
Buck-Hayes, 30, was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding on July 30, hours after Vogler was attacked and set on fire outside his workplace.
Those two charges were certified in Danville General District Court in September, which means that a judge determined that there was probable cause that Buck-Hayes committed the crimes.
“I brought an additional charge, which is breaking and entering with intent to commit murder while armed with a deadly weapon,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman in an interview Monday afternoon.
The grand jury, which met in Danville Circuit Court, indicted Buck-Hayes on all three charges.
The indictment comes after the court approved a motion from Buck-Hayes’ attorney, Edward Lavado, earlier this month requesting a psychological evaluation of the suspect. The evaluation will determine Buck-Hayes’ competency to stand trial and his sanity at the time of the offense.
Buck-Hayes has spent part of his time in custody in the Central State Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Petersburg, according to Danville Sheriff Mike Mondul.
He was transferred there less than two days after his arrest, after “exhibiting behaviors that were problematic,” Mondul said. Buck-Hayes was transferred back to the Danville jail in mid-August.
Monday’s indictment sends Buck-Hayes’ case on to a criminal trial. A trial date will not be set until the court’s January term, Newman said, after the psychological evaluation is expected to be complete.
Vogler was at his workplace on July 30 when a man identified as Buck-Hayes entered the office, doused him with gasoline and lit him on fire, according to the Danville Police Department.
He was airlifted to the burn unit at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill immediately after the attack to receive treatment for second- and third-degree burns to over half of his body.
He was released from the hospital last week, months earlier than expected, and attended the Oct. 21 city council meeting on his first day back in Danville, which was his first public appearance since the attack.
Buck-Hayes was taken into custody and charged a few hours after the July attack.
An officer who questioned the suspect after the attack testified during the preliminary hearing, saying that Buck-Hayes admitted to dumping gasoline on Vogler with the intention to kill him. The officer also testified that Buck-Hayes claimed Vogler was having an affair with his wife.
The maximum sentence for attempted first-degree murder is 10 years in prison, and the maximum sentence for aggravated malicious wounding is 20 years to life, Newman said.
For the third charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit murder while armed with a deadly weapon, the maximum sentence is also 20 years to life, he said.