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U.S. judge sets trial date in UNC killing
Counts in student-body leader's shooting may bring death penalty
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Published: December 3, 2008
GREENSBORO - A federal judge set a late 2009 trial start for a man already facing state charges in the fatal shooting of Eve Carson, who was the student-body president at UNC Chapel Hill.
Demario Atwater, 22, made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Greensboro. He pleaded not guilty to four charges, including carjacking resulting in death, and carrying and using firearms during and in relation to carjacking. Those two charges could each carry the death penalty.
Officials at the office of the clerk of U.S. District Court said that the trial was scheduled to begin in November 2009.
State prosecutors are also pursuing the death penalty against Atwater in Orange County on murder and kidnapping charges, though a capital murder case there has not resulted in an execution in 60 years.
Co-defendant Laurence Lovette is not eligible for the death penalty because he was younger than 18 when Carson was killed.
The Department of Justice has yet to approve the request of U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner to pursue execution if Atwater is convicted.
Carson, 22, of Athens, Ga., was taken from her Chapel Hill home and had to watch as hundreds of dollars were withdrawn from her bank account at several ATMs. She was later shot five times, including once in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun, as she tried to shield herself from the gunfire in the middle of a residential street. Authorities have said that Atwater and Lovette, each with an extensive criminal history and each on probation, were out looking for someone to rob when they spotted Carson through a front window at her home.
Last month, Atwater was moved from Central Prison to an undisclosed location. According to records at the N.C. Department of Correction, he had nine noted infractions between July and September, including lock tampering, gang involvement, threatening staff members, and using profanity.
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