BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Authorities said a woman who pleaded guilty last year for her involvement in a gruesome double homicide in Burke County turned herself in Friday afternoon.
According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, 35-year-old Brandy “Red Bone” Davis, was scheduled to appear in superior court Wednesday to be sentenced in connection with the murders of Albert Austin and his cousin, Jermaine Murry.
Deputies found the bodies of the two cousins in a car that was set on fire north of Morganton in 2016. The men were alive when the fire was set, according to investigators.
Brandy Davis was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact, but never showed up to court for her sentencing earlier in the week.
“She is purposely on the run,” Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant said Thursday.
Davis’ family begged for the key witness in the capital murder case to turn herself in.
“It really hit me, and it hit me now,” said Teresa Davis, Brandy Davis’ mother. “Please turn yourself in.”
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Past coverage:
- Man charged with murder after bodies found in burned car, deputies say
- Women plead guilty in case where 2 men were burned alive in car trunk
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Brandy Davis, along with Scott Hemphill, Brian Robinson and Icey Gooden were arrested for their involvement in the murders, which were reported on Sept. 18, 2016.
Prosecutors said Gooden, who knew the victims, lured them to Burke County, where prosecutors said they were robbed and killed by her boyfriend and Brandy Davis. The men were forced into the trunk at gunpoint before the car was set on fire.
“After the vehicle was set on fire, the two victims were kicking and screaming in the trunk,” Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lippert said during last year’s plea agreement. “It looks like Brandy Davis looked into the rearview mirror as the flames engulfed the car.”
Gooden pleaded guilty to second-degree murder during that hearing.
The district attorney said as part of the plea deal, the two women agreed to testify against the men who set the fire.
“I just wish she would turn herself in because it’s hard on us every time we have to go back and forth to court,” said Lakeisha Hill, Murray’s girlfriend said. “Some of those wounds are starting to heal and then we have to reopen them. We’re just ready to get some of this behind us.”
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