CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Police found the body of the 22-year-old student body of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill March 5. The victim was fatally shot.
Investigators and the office of the medical examiner identified the victim as Eve Carson, a senior at the university.
Carson was last seen at 1:30 a.m., when she declined a night out with friends to do schoolwork, authorities said. Police found the victim’s body a mile away from campus after receiving a phone call around 5 a.m. from neighbors saying they had heard gunshots.
Authorities don’t know what Carson was doing in the upscale residential area, although the medical examiner said there was no indication that she had been sexually assaulted.
The victim’s car, a blue 2005 Toyota Highlander, was found a mile away from where her body was discovered on March 6, after a witness reported seeing the vehicle 45 minutes west of Raleigh. Police believe the suspect had been in Carson’s car at some point.
Two men have been arrested for Carson’s murder. Both suspects were caught on two separate surveillance cameras trying to use the victim’s ATM card.
Demario Atwater, 21, was arrested by police at his Durham, N.C. home on March 12. Surveillance shows Atwater in a convenience store near the university trying to make a purchase on Carson’s card, shortly after her friends last saw her.
Police said the second suspect, 17-year-old Lawrence Lovette Jr. surrendered the following day after police surrounded a home where he was hiding. Authorities said the suspect spoke with negotiators for an hour before he came out the home at 4:15 a.m.
Lovette was spotted attempting to withdraw money from a drive-through ATM using Carson’s card. Police suspect Atwater was with him in the backseat of the car.
Additionally, Lovette is said to be in connection with the Jan. 18 murder of a Duke University of 29-year-old graduate student Abhijit Mahato. Mahato was found fatally shot inside his off-campus apartment.
Both suspects have been charged with first degree murder. Lovette faces additional charges of murder and robbery for Mahato’s slaying.
The shooting occurred several hours after Lauren Burk, an 18-year-old freshman from Auburn University in Alabama, was fatally shot and killed. Investigators in North Carolina said they contacted Auburn police, but the two cases appear to be coincidental.
Carson was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society majoring in political science and biology. She was elected student body president in the fall of 2007, and had studied abroad and taught locally at Chapel Hill and Durham.
Students and faculty held a candlelight vigil at The Pit, one of the university’s popular spots. Grief counselors were also made available to students.
