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."
Request to relocate Nichols trial rejected
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
Comments
"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.".................................................Of course they deserve to die these two worthless pieces of crap took the life of a wonderful , caring young person who had the world in front of her..this sensless disregard for human life by these animals can not and should not be tolerated.
I agree the total lack of respect for human life is disturbing, to kill someone for an Atm card and a joy ride. She was a College student, how much money could they expect her to have in her account, and there is a limit on how much you can withdraw daily. Senseless, even if they wanted to rob her they didn't have to kill her. I saw the one guy limping, the police probably beat his a@@ on the way to jail.
How could these two pieces of trash not deserve the death penalty?? Although if they receive the death penalty they would sit on death row for 25-30 years and then not be put to death because it is inhumane?? Our justice system is broken!!
Shoot them just like they shot her but make it last longer. Two less thugs for us to worry about. Why waste our money on these type of people in jail.
When you mention, Mr. Woodall, to whom were you referring to as taking a step back because this was and is a very emotional time. I would assume it would be a very emotional time for the families of the murdered loved ones. There will be no stepping back for them....
Once again, we see an example of how out of touch our legal system (so called) is with the the law-abiding public. The system's appropriate punishment is confinement for life wherein we provide these animals nourishment, clothing, housing, medical care and, if they are so inclined, seemingly endless legal representation and an education. Hell, we don't even pay to bury the victim(s). Anything short of removing these animals from existence is a miscarriage of justice.
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