Second man charged in N.C. student deaths

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. --- The Orange County district attorney says it's too early to say whether Demario James Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr. deserve the death penalty in the deaths of two college students.

Authorities formally charged Mr. Lovette with two counts of first-degree murder Friday in the shooting deaths of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato and UNC Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson, of Athens, Ga. Mr. Atwater had already been charged in Ms. Carson's murder.

Jim Woodall, the district attorney for Orange and Chatham counties, has not decided whether to pursue the death penalty against Mr. Atwater, though he is considering it. Because Mr. Lovette is younger than 18, he is ineligible for capital punishment, even though he is charged as an adult.

"Everybody has to step back, and we have to let a little bit of time pass before we make a decision," Mr. Woodall said. "This is a very emotional time."

ATLANTA --- A request by the judge overseeing accused courthouse shooter Brian Nichols' murder case to move the defendant's trial to the federal courthouse has been rejected.

A letter sent Friday from Superior Court Judge James Bodiford to U.S. District Judge Jack Camp said he has been told the federal court will not be able to accommodate the July 10 trial.

The reasons are not specified in the letter. The Richard B. Russell federal courthouse is a few blocks from the Fulton County Courthouse, where Mr. Nichols is charged with going on a shooting spree on March 11, 2005. Four people were killed.

Mr. Nichols' lawyers have sought to move the trial from the county courthouse, because it is a crime scene, to another location within Fulton County.

-- From staff and wire reports