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9:51 p.m. • 2-10-12

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Eve Carson murder suspects indicted on additional charges


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Atwater_Lovette

The two men charged with murder in the death of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Student Body President Eve Carson were each indicted Monday on additional charges, including first-degree kidnapping and armed robbery.

Demario James Atwater, 22, and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, also face one count each of felonious larceny and felonious possession of stolen goods.

Atwater was also indicted on a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of weapon of mass destruction for the size of the shotgun that investigators believe was used to kill Carson.

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said that if the overall size of a shotgun is less than 26 inches or the barrel is less than 18 inches, it could be considered a weapon of mass destruction.

But he declined to comment on whether the new charges meant authorities have recovered the weapons used in Carson's death. He also declined to say whether the weapons charge meant investigators believe Atwater used a shotgun to shoot Carson.

"We indicted in a way that the investigators and the prosecutors in my office who reviewed the evidence as we know it today felt comfortable," he said.

Chapel Hill police found Carson, 22, of Athens, Ga., dead several blocks from the UNC campus on March 5 while responding to a report of gunshots. She had been shot five times, including once to her head with a shotgun, according to an autopsy report released last week.

Search warrants released last month suggest both suspects might have shot Carson; a confidential informant told investigators that Atwater told her Lovette shot Carson multiple times and that Atwater subsequently shot her.

Also, federal sources told WRAL News Monday that federal investigators are also looking at carjacking charges against the two suspects, – a charge that can carry a death penalty sentence if prosecutors can prove the carjacking was committed during a homicide.

Woodall has not indicated whether he will seek the death penalty against Atwater. A hearing was scheduled for Monday but was postponed until Aug. 11.

Woodall said the move was to give defense attorneys to review more information on the case and to give Carson's family an opportunity to travel for the hearing. He did not say if they planned to do so.

Possible federal charges are significant because Orange County juries have rarely sent someone to death row. The last defendant executed from Orange County was in 1948.

Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Lovette cannot be tried on capital murder charges, because he was under the age of 18 at the time he allegedly committed the crime.

RELATED TOPICS: Orange County, Eve Carson, Supreme Court, Death Penalty

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give death penalty. if one of them was a minor on the day of the crime at the age of 17 knows the good and bad I think nobody wants it free at 10 or 15 years later

Color,Race,Religion makes no difference to me. If you kill you should have the same fate. We as a Country are too nice and as long as we keep giving a slap on the wrist and a free jail cell and food there will be these kind of monsters walking this free land keeping us in danger.

Hey Wags. You and swisher sweet smoking the same thing? Remember, MEN wrote those scriptures, not a single god or angel did. You're worshiping men. You and she would be far better off spending your time with a good psychiatrist. As noted in the article, no gods, angels or any such thing was ever seen nor mentioned. This young lady lost her life tragically, but her memory continues on.

OK Rev.....Maybe anything IS possible! I completely agree with this whole post!

"I don't believe in the death penalty because I think it's the easy way out and doesn't make sense to kill someone for killing someone. I think it should be up to God, and it doesn't serve as a deterrant anyway."

Firstly, for law abiding citizens to pay for the upkeep and welfare of law breakers is what doesn't make sense.

And God said it best when He said, "An eye for an eye..." which is what I firmly believe in.

And never ever in The Bible did God encourage us to have any sympathy for law breakers. In fact He heartily encouraged us to purge them from our midst.

God bless.

Rev. RB

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

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