03/12/08 — BREAKING NEWS - Second suspect charged, is still at large

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BREAKING NEWS - Second suspect charged, is still at large

By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on March 12, 2008 5:02 PM

Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran announced this afternoon that they have charged two suspects with first-degree murder in the killing of University of North Carolina student president Eve Carson.

One, 21-year-old Demario James Atwater was arrested by Durham police at his residence and turned over to Chapel Hill authorities today as he made his first court appearance.

The second, 17-year-old Lawrence Alvin Lovett Jr. is still at-large.

Curran said that Lovett is believed to be the driver in the first ATM photo.

Lawrence Alvin Lovett

Lawrence Alvin Lovett

Demario James Atwater

Demario James Atwater

He is described as a black male, 5’7, 150 pounds.

“He remains at-large and we need your help,” Curran said.

He noted, though, that anybody with information about Lovett’s whereabouts should call the police, not try to apprehend him themselves.

“Lovett should be considered armed and dangerous,” he said.

Atwater, he continued, is believed to be the man in the convenience store photograph.

Curran would not comment on any other evidence or who he thought the shooter might have been.

“This is still an active and ongoing investigation,” he said. “We did speak with Atwater today, but I’m not at liberty to disclose the results of the interview.”

Curran would not confirm if the intense police standoff in Durham this afternoon involves Lovett or not. Durham City Councilman Eugene Brown, however, has told WRAL-TV that police are trying to arrest the second suspect.

Ms. Carson, 22, was found dead last Wednesday on a street about a mile from campus. The Morehead-Cain scholar and biology and political science major from Athens, Ga. had been shot several times, including once in the right temple.

A third memorial service is planned for next week at the Smith Center, the camps basketball arena.

“We are still a community in grief,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy. “We have come together in this difficult time to comfort each other and to help a family in mourning.

“I hope that all of us will keep Eve’s parents, brother and all of family and friends in our thoughts and in our prayers.”