In the most recent round of indictments, which came out on September 16, three murder charges put the Carroll County Circuit Court on high alert for the next few months.
Also, Kevin Lee Sizemore will be tried for murder in Carroll County Circuit Court from October 7th to 11th for the shooting death of 30-year-old Laura Caroline “Carrie” Buffkin on July 27, 2022. The trial will last five days.
Sizemore, a man from Hillsville, is being tried by a jury in Carroll County Circuit Court on October 7 at 9 a.m. He is being charged with murder after police in Carroll County were called to Woodlawn to find a woman who was not responding.
Carroll County Sheriff Kevin A. Kemp said that on July 27, 2022, around 11:30 a.m., Carroll County Fire and Rescue, the Pipers Gap Rescue Squad, and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office were called to 68 Fairlawn Lane in Woodlawn for a female patient who was not responding.
“EMS workers on the scene found that the victim had already died.” Laura Caroline “Carrie” Buffkin, who was 30 years old, was named as the victim, Kemp said.
“Deputies saw what looked like a gunshot wound, made sure the area was safe, started interviewing the person, and called the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.”
Investigators came to the scene to learn more about what happened. The investigation turned out to be a murder.
However, Kemp said that Sizemore was identified as a person of interest during the probe. Two days later, on July 29, 2022, investigators contacted Sizemore and found him to have a concealed handgun on him.
Following the investigation, Sizemore was charged and arrested for the murder of Laura “Carrie” Buffkin, using a firearm to commit a felony, having a firearm while under a protective order, felony theft of a firearm, and having a concealed weapon on their person, Kemp said.
Sizemore was charged with these crimes in 2023, and three other people were charged with murder in Carroll County at the Sept. 16 Grand Jury hearing.
The 82-year-old David Wesley Bolen Sr. was charged with second-degree murder and two firearm offences in the death of his 84-year-old wife Jean Jackson Bolen on April 29 in Fancy Gap.
Brandon Grey Rector, 40, was also charged on September 16 with second-degree murder and firing a gun into a dwelling while someone was inside. He is accused of killing his 30-year-old lover Morgen Brewer on January 12 in Hillsville.
In April 2023, Kevin Dwayne Barker, 44, of Winston-Salem, N.C., was killed. Kyle Travis Snow, 39, was charged with two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count each of second degree murder, possession of a firearm after being convicted of a violent felony, attempted carjacking, possession of a firearm while in possession of a Schedule II drug (methamphetamine), firing a firearm from a motor vehicle, and possession of a Schedule I/II drug (methamphetamine).
Roger Brooks, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Carroll County, said that Bolen’s case had been in the Juvenile and Domestic Court until the grand jury charges.
This means that the case now goes to the circuit court. Brooks thought Bolen’s case would be heard in this part of circuit court before the next round of charges in December. There is not a date yet, but the Commonwealth’s Attorney thinks one will be set soon.
“His lawyer needs to set a date for us to move forward and decide what plea he wants to enter.” He needs to say if he wants a bench trial, a jury trial, or just to enter a bare plea.
“We can come to a plea deal, write it all down, get everyone to sign it, and then take it to the court to see if it is okay. If it is okay, the court will follow it,” Brooks said.
“A bare plea means that we go in without any agreements and the defendant says that the evidence is enough to find them guilty.” I can make an Alford Plea because there is a lot of evidence against me. I do not think I will be found not guilty, but I still believe I am innocent. It is also possible for him to plead guilty.
Brooks said that after the hearing, the judge will order a pre-sentencing report.
This will take about 60 days so that the probation officer can do a criminal background check, talk to the defendant, give the official report to the police, and talk to the defendant’s family, siblings, children, and other people to try to get a good picture of their past, including military records and work history.
It shows what the person is doing in the community to give the judge a more complete picture of what this person is like, what their background is, and how they have been in the past.
This helps the judge make an informed decision about what the right thing to do is. “After that, sentencing guidelines will be made that give the court a suggestion,” Brooks said. ”
Those do not bind the court, and the court can go to either the most or the least that the law says.” Following those rules, the judge then makes his own choice based on all the factors that affect what he wants to do.
Brooks said that Rector’s lawyer has moved the second-degree murder case into the December term of court, which will be decided at the next docket call on November 26.
The case against Snow is also set to be heard on the Nov. 26 court call, according to records from Carroll County Court.
