Search Warrants Released in Duke Grad Student's Death

Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr.

New search warrants in the case of a slain Duke University graduate student show police arrested one of the suspects based on a tip from a friend.

In a search warrant dated March 13, Durham police said they received information from a reliable source and friend of Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr. indicating he was inside a home at 1914 Cook Road.

"The subject reported that she followed Lovette to this residence and watched as he entered alone," according to a probable cause affidavit. "She advised that she maintained constant visual of this residence until officers arrived."

Lovette, 17, surrendered to police hours after the warrant was issued.

At the time of his arrest, he was wanted on a first-degree murder charge in the March 5 shooting death of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Student Body President Eve Carson.

A few hours after Lovette was detained, police charged him with murder in the Jan. 18 death of Abhijit Mahato, 29, a doctoral student who was found shot to death inside his apartment near the Duke campus.

In a March 24 search warrant for DNA and photographs of Lovette, police said that a search of the crime scene yielded several DNA samples "presumably left on the scene by subjects other than the victim."

Another man, Stephen Oates, 19, of Anthony Drive, is also charged in Mahato's death.

Lovette is in jail under a $3 million bond in Mahato's death; he is in jail without bond in Carson's death.

Share:
Add to del.icio.us del.icio.us    Add to Digg Digg    Add to Google Google    Add to Yahoo! Yahoo!    Add to facebookfacebook   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon    Add to Reddit Reddit

30 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Multimedia

  1. story thumbnail
    Do My Job: Behind the Durham Bulls' scoreboard

    As part of her weeklong series, “Do My Job," WRAL reporter Kim Dean learned how to work the manual scoreboard at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

  2. story thumbnail
    Campaign Trail Photos of the Week

    View photos from the past week on the campaign trail from AP photographers around the country.

  3. story thumbnail
    North Carolina lake levels

    Find out current lake levels and water-use restrictions in your community.

  4. story thumbnail
    Tassel-turning time again: Thousands graduate in Triangle

    Area colleges handed out thousands of degrees to graduates this weekend.

  5. story thumbnail
    Merlefest 2008

    Every year thousands from around the country and beyond make their way to Wilkesboro, N.C. for down home bluegrass and family fun.