Cherokee man sentenced following murder plea
File photo
U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced Brandon Tyler Buchanan to 30 years in prison for second degree murder, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
According to a press release sent out by Ferguson’s office, Buchanan, 33, an enrolled 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.
The murder occurred on the afternoon of Nov. 11, 2022, shortly after which, tribal police officers responded to a 911 call following reports of the shooting. When officers arrived, Buchanan admitted to shooting someone. They subsequently found the body of Kobe Toineeta not far from the apartment. He’d 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.
An obituary described Toineeta as “an old soul who never met a stranger.” A 2015 graduate of Swain County High School, Toineeta was a talented all-around athlete who especially loved football, receiving MVP on the Cherokee Braves JV football team and All Conference his junior year on the Swain Maroon Devils football team. He was a partner in a local drywall company and enjoyed hunting, giving much of the fish and bear meat he got to Cherokee elders.
“As a tribe, our collective hearts are broken over the loss of Kobe Toineeta, such a young and vibrant spirit,” read a Nov. 13, 2022, post from then Principal Chief Richard Sneed. “There are no words to properly express the magnitude of loss his family is experiencing.”
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During the homicide investigation, police executed a search warrant at the home and found 387 oxycodone 30-milligram pills, 99 clonazepam 2-milligram pills, more than 300 grams of marijuana, two firearms and $13,000 cash. Buchanan and a woman he shared a residence with were initially hit with a slew of charges tied to the possession and sales of multiple kinds of illegal narcotics.
Only a few days later, Buchanan was charged with murder.
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.
