ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced Brandon Tyler Buchanan on Monday, April 14 to 30 years in prison for second degree murder, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Buchanan, 33, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term and 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) join U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making Monday’s announcement.
According to filed court records and court proceedings, on Nov. 11, 2022, CIPD officers responded to a 911 call following reports of a shooting. When the officers arrived, Buchanan admitted to shooting someone. CIPD officers discovered the body of the victim, Kobe Toineeta, a short distance away behind a row of trees, who had sustained five gunshot wounds. Court documents show that a Smith & Wesson, Model M&P, .9mm handgun was later found in Buchanan’s apartment. Laboratory testing confirmed that it was the firearm Buchanan used to shoot and kill the victim.
On May 31, 2024, Buchanan pleaded guilty to second degree murder and remains in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making Monday’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the FBI and the Cherokee Indian Police Department for their investigation of the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Scott of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
- U.S. Department of Justice release
