DANVILLE, Va. (Court TV) — A man who pleaded guilty to setting a Virginia city councilman on fire offered an apology as he appeared in court for his sentencing on Thursday.
“You didn’t deserve what has happened to you, and I couldn’t be more sorry,” Shotsie Buck-Hayes said simply when asked if he had any message for his victim.
Shotsie Buck-Hayes appears at his sentencing on June 25, 2026. (Court TV)
Buck-Hayes, 30, pleaded guilty in April to attempted murder and aggravated malicious wounding charges after the July 2025 attack on Lee Vogler, 39. Buck-Hayes entered a guilty plea without an agreement with the prosecution, leaving his sentence to be decided by the judge overseeing the case.
“I was ambushed and violently attacked at my place of employment, with no warning,” Vogler said in court on Thursday. “I have nightmares constantly, waking up feeling like I am back in the flames.”
Buck-Hayes explained at the sentencing hearing that while he and his wife separated in 2024, they maintained a sexual relationship and his goal remained saving their marriage. “I did everything to try to fix my marriage, but blocking my wife would have been a much better way of going about things,” the defendant said when asked by his attorney if there was anything about the past he would change.
The defendant learned that his estranged wife had been having an affair with Vogler, and after having a difficult conversation with his ex on July 30, 2025, Buck-Hayes decided to confront the victim. In an interview with police, Buck-Hayes admitted to purchasing gasoline and then melting styrofoam inside it, believing it would “make it burn longer.”
Buck-Hayes knocked on Vogler’s door, doused him with the accelerant, and then set him on fire. Video previously played in court showed the defendant chasing the victim, who was desperately trying to get away. “Hearing a knock at the door will never be the same for Lee,” said Vogler’s mother at the sentencing hearing. “The calendar in my bedroom is still on July 2025, because my life changed and ended, in a way, then. I haven’t been able to turn the page beyond that date, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to.”
Lee Vogler speaks to media after his attacker was sentenced. (Court TV)
While Judge James Reynolds conceded that the guidelines in the case called for a sentence of five to 12 years, he said that this case called for him to go outside that framework. “The facts of this case represent a pinnacle of human cruelty,” as he handed down a life sentence with all but 40 years suspended.
Buck-Hayes’ attorney, Edward Lavado, said that he was blindsided by the judge’s decision. “It was a shock to Shotsie, his family, everyone involved,” he said. After his release, the defendant will likely return to the United Kingdom; he is not a citizen and no longer has a valid green card.
Outside of court, Vogler was looking to the future. When asked his reaction to the verdict, he had one word: “Relief,” he said. “I feel like the justice system worked like it’s supposed to.”
Buck-Hayes’ attorneys said he plans to appeal the sentence.
