DANVILLE, Va. — A man who set a Virginia council member on fire in an alleged jealous rage was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.
Shotsie Buck-Hayes, who pleaded guilty in April to attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding, was sentenced in Danville Circuit Court for the July 30, 2025, attack on Danville City Council member Lee Vogler.
Witnesses testified that Buck-Hayes walked into Vogler’s Danville office carrying a bucket of gasoline, doused the council member, chased him from the building, and set him ablaze.
Blair Vogler, the council member’s wife, told the court that Lee Vogler suffered burns covering 60% of his body.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman said Vogler and his family attended Thursday’s hearing, where the visibly scarred councilman made an emotional statement about how the attack had altered his life.
Newman said Buck-Hayes also addressed the court, offering what the prosecutor described as “what he claimed to be an apology.” But Buck-Hayes repeated during his statement that he had been motivated by an alleged affair between Vogler and Buck-Hayes’s wife.
The sentence closes a case that left a public official permanently scarred and highlighted a violent act prosecutors attributed to personal vengeance. Lee Vogler remains on the Danville City Council.