Duke, UNC Murder Suspect's Probation Officer Has Criminal Record

Durham, N.C. — The probation officer for a 17-year-old charged in the homicides of two local college students has a criminal record, according to Keith Acree, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Correction.

Records show Laurence Alvin Lovette's probation officer, Chalita Nicole Thomas, had several criminal charges filed against her, including driving while impaired, carrying a concealed weapon and speeding.

Lovette, of Durham, is charged with one count of murder and one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the Jan. 18 slaying of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato.

He also faces a first-degree murder charge in the March 5 shooting death of Eve Carson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's student body president.

At the time of his arrest on March 13, Lovette was on probation for a pair of crimes he committed last November. He received a two-year suspended sentence for misdemeanor larceny and breaking and entering and was placed on probation Jan. 16.

Robert L. Guy, director of the Department of Correction's Division of Community Corrections, told WRAL last week that during the six-week period from Mahato's to Carson's deaths, a probation officer made telephone contact with Lovette but never saw him outside of court.

Lovette is in jail under a $3 million bond in Mahato's death. He is being held without bond in Carson's death.