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Accused killers of college student president indicted on additional charges
Killers of Eve Carson may face death penalty
MCT
Issue date: 7/16/08 Section: News
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The jury also indicted Demario Atwater on additional charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Authorities say Atwater wielded a sawed-off shotgun.
Despite investigative records showing that police think Carson was also shot with a handgun, second suspect Laurence Lovette does not face any weapons charges because he does not have a felony record. Prosecutors cannot consider Lovette's juvenile record for the purpose of lodging additional charges.
Both men were indicted March 31 on first-degree murder charges in the March 5 slaying of the UNC-Chapel Hill student leader. She was shot five times, according to an autopsy report released last week.
Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall left unanswered the question of whether authorities believe the account of an anonymous informant who said Atwater told her he and Lovette entered Carson's home and took her from it. None of the new indictments reflected such a scenario.
"We indicted on the things that (investigators) felt comfortable going forward on," Woodall said.
Search warrants and related documents indicate that Carson may have been abducted from her home, forced into her Toyota Highlander and driven to an ATM machine, before she was shot in a neighborhood near campus.
A Rule 24 hearing where Woodall will announce whether he'll pursue the death penalty against Atwater was postponed until Aug. 11.
Woodall said attorneys needed more time to prepare, and he wanted to give Carson's family more time to decide whether to attend.
If Atwater is convicted of murder, some of Monday's new charges could translate into aggravating factors to support a death sentence.
Orange County has not sent anyone to death row since 1970, and no offender from Orange County has been executed since 1948.
Lovette, 17, is not eligible for the death penalty because of his age.
Lovette also is charged with the first-degree murder of Abhijit Mahato, a Duke University engineering student from Bengal, India, who was shot in a robbery in January.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
jess
posted 7/16/08 @ 10:29 AM EST
I'm actually against the death penalty... but in a case like this where the evidence is so clean cut, and it was such a senseless and uncessary murder, I'm actually very much for it. (Continued…)
Sam
posted 7/22/08 @ 7:14 PM EST
I couldn't agree with you more Jess. I'm for the death penalty only in the most heinous offenses. For this human trash to kill this great person only to take money from her bank account is beyond imagination. (Continued…)
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