The Cold-blooded Murder of Eve Carson

She begged for her life but received no mercy and was killed execution-style

In 2008, Eve Marie Carson was a brilliant and outgoing 22-year-old student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Carson was a pre-med student who was majoring in political science and biology. She had a long list of honors, awards, and achievements to her name. She was student body president, a member of the university board of trustees, and involved in honors programs at the university.

She excelled academically and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society as well as a recipient of several scholarships. In addition to academics, she had an interest in volunteering and spent time tutoring elementary and middle school kids. She had also traveled to different countries to volunteer as part of study-abroad programs.

She was due to graduate soon and had already received a prestigious job offer from Mckinsey & Company.

Carson had a promising future ahead of her but on the morning of March 5, 2008, her life took a sudden turn when she was murdered in cold blood.

The murder of Eve Carson

The day before her murder, Carson attended a basketball game with her friends where the University of North Carolina Tar Heels played Florida State.

Her friends wanted to hang out after the game but Carson declined saying that she had to study. Carson went directly to her apartment.

It was around 3:30 am on March 5 when 22-year-old Demario James Atwater and 17-year-old Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr decided to take a walk on the street where Carson lived. They were both looking for someone to mug. Atwater and Lovette had committed several crimes and were on probation for breaking and entering and possession of a firearm.

They saw Carson through the window of her apartment. Carson had just opened an email on her computer at 3:35 am. She had then decided to step out of her apartment and was walking towards her car when she was confronted by Atwater and Lovette.

The two men had a gun and were able to abduct Carson by forcing her into the back seat of her own car. Lovette got into the driver’s seat while Atwater sat in the back holding a gun to Carson’s head.

They drove around with Carson in the back seat to several ATMs where they used her ATM card and robbed her of $1400.

During this time, Carson started pleading for her life and praying. She told them to take whatever they wanted but to let her go. It was to no avail. Atwater and Lovette decided that they had to kill Carson because she had seen their faces and could identify them to the authorities.

They drove to a wooded area about a mile from the university campus to carry out the killing. When Carson realized they were going to kill her, she asked them to pray with her.

According to testimony by an informant, both Atwater and Lovette remained unmoved by Carson’s plea for mercy and prayers and just decided to shoot her in an execution-style killing.

Carson was first shot four times with a handgun. When she did not immediately die, she was shot a fifth time with a shotgun. The fifth shot was fatal and the bullet passed through her hand indicating that she had tried to shield herself even as she lay gravely injured and dying.

Discovery and arrest of the killers

The five shots used to kill Carson were heard by witnesses and the police were alerted. They discovered Carson’s lifeless body at 5:15 am on March 5, 2008. Her car had been abandoned by Atwater and Lovette. It was also later found by the police.

The police believed that robbery was the motive and decided to check the CCTV cameras at ATMs in the area. They were able to spot Carson’s car on the CCTV as well as her abductors in the car.

Both Lovette and Atwater were arrested and charged with first-degree murders. In addition, carjacking, robbery, weapons possession, felonious larceny, and kidnapping charges were also brought against them.

Atwater pleaded guilty to the charges so the death penalty would not be pursued by the state. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Lovette was 17 and underage when the crime took place. He was also sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Conclusion

Carson was posthumously awarded the Chancellor’s Award for most outstanding woman in the senior class by the University of North Carolina. She was also awarded the General Alumni Association’s Distinguished Young Alumnus Award posthumously.

Today her legacy lives on at the university. The university has established a scholarship in her name called the Eve Carson Scholarship. There is also an Eve Carson Memorial Run, an Eve Carson Garden, and even a distinguished lecture series in her name.

Carson was a star student at the university when she died. They are simply making sure that her senseless death will never be in vain.

Sources: Talk Murder, wral.com, Wikipedia, CBS News

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