LEXINGTON—Formal charges armed against a deadly bank robbery defendant, Brailen Weaver, 18, were filed today at the US District Court. The charge of "causing death" could bring Weaver the death penalty.

Weaver listened as Magistrate Judge Matthew A. Stinnett read the federal charges against him for his alleged role in the heist and deaths of two US Bank employees in Berea on April 30. The charges include alleged armed bank robbery, allegedly discharging a weapon in a crime of violence, and allegedly causing death when he entered the bank branch on Chestnut Street and shot and killed Breanna Edwards, 35, and Brian Switzer, 42, both bank employees.

Weaver also waived his right to a detention hearing. Instead, Weaver will remain under the custody of US Marshalls. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 12, at 10AM.

Encased in thick chains that secured his arms to his sides, with cuffs on his wrists, Weaver struggled to raise his right hand to swear to the judge that he understood he'd waived his right to a detention hearing. Weaver said "yes" aloud to the judge each time he was asked if he understood the charges and proceedings. Weaver's voice was baritone and clear, but demure.

Wearing a plain white tee shirt, black jeans, and red Crocs with white socks, when the tall, skinny and muscular defendant entered the courtroom to hear the charges against him, he was escorted by Lexington Police, who have been detaining Weaver at a Lexington jail since his apprehension in the early hours of May 1.

The FBI reports in its criminal complaint against Weaver, that after shooting Edwards and Switzer that the defendant then rooted through the bank tellers' cash drawers before exiting the bank on foot, leaving with under $1,000. Eventually, after a high speed car chase through Fayette County, Weaver crashed the silver BMW he was driving and fled once again on foot, before law enforcement discovered Weaver walking east on Interstate-64 near mile marker 88 and arrested him.

Weaver, who is white, has black fuzz above his lip and on his chin, kept his head bowed beneath his mop of black curls as he made his way with a policeman on either side, to his seat in between his defense attorneys. Lexington lawyers Patrick Nash and Thomas Lyon have been appointed by the court to represent Weaver.

If federal prosecutor Mary Melton is able to prove her case that Weaver is guilty of the federal charges against him, Weaver will face up to 20 years in prison for the armed robbery, up to five years for discharging a weapon, and up to life in prison or the death penalty for causing the deaths of the two bank employees, all according to Stinnett. Weaver also faces an as yet undetermined amount in restitution to the families of the slain, the judge said.

State Attorney General Russell Coleman has also stated that his office will pursue murder charges against Weaver.

During the hearing, Edwards' family members sat quietly, with one of them occasionally weeping. A woman who before the hearing had identified herself to a reporter as "there for Brailen" sat in the courtroom next to a boy in his mid- to late-teens. With his mop of dark curls, fit body and serious face, the teen greatly resembled Weaver. The woman and teen also sat with a young woman with straight dark hair. During the hearing, the woman who was "there for Brailen" wept beneath a jacket she had thrown over her head.

This is an ongoing story. The Edge will being you updates as they occur. Thank you for reading. For more on this story, visit our previous coverage. No cameras or recording devices were allowed in the courtroom.