Suspects Indicted in UNC Student Leader's Death

Atwater_Lovette

An Orange County grand jury on Monday indicted two men for the shooting death of Eve Marie Carson, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's student body president.

Demario James Atwater, 21, and Laurence Alvin Lovette, 17, both of Durham, were indicted on a charge of first-degree murder.

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said a hearing is scheduled for May 5 to determine whether to pursue the death penalty against Atwater.

Woodall said he has not decided whether to try the case as a capital case, but that state statute requires the hearing to be set 45 days from indictment.

Last week, a Durham County grand jury indicted Lovette on a murder charge in the Jan. 18 death of Abhijit Mahato, a 29-year-old Duke University graduate student.

Lovette cannot be executed. A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibits executing anyone who was under 18 at the time of a crime for which an adult could be executed. The harshest punishment he could face, if convicted of either crime, would be life in prison.

While responding to reports of gunfire, Chapel Hill police found Carson, 22, around 5 a.m. March 5 about a half-mile from the UNC campus. Her body was identified the next day. According to a stolen-vehicle report, she had been shot in the head.

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

42 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
    North Carolina lake levels

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

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

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

  3. story thumbnail
    Campaign Trail Photos of the Week

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

  4. 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.

  5. story thumbnail
    Obama party at Reynolds Coliseum

    Obama supporters came out to Reynolds Coliseum to celebrate the senator's win in the N.C. primary election.