Federal investigation into Eve Carson death

RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal prosecutors have opened their own investigation into the killing of former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson, according to a letter made public Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner mentioned that a federal investigation was opened March 14 less than two weeks after Carson was found dead in a letter sent to Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall, who is handling the case.

The April 23 letter asks Woodall not to release search warrants in the case because doing so ``would be detrimental to the federal investigation, which is ongoing.''

The warrants were initially sealed after Carson was found dead March 5, and it remained unclear Thursday whether Wagoner still opposed the warrants' release when a judge unsealed the documents in June.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynne Klauer said Thursday that Wagoner would not comment on the letter, saying the document reveals the only details being made public at this time.

``We're going to let the memo speak for itself,'' Klauer said.
Messages left at Woodall's office Thursday afternoon weren't immediately returned.

Demario James Atwater, 22, and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, have been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and several other charges related to Carson's death. Atwater also faces charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, in this instance a shotgun.

If convicted, Atwater could face the death penalty and Lovette could face life in prison. Lovette cannot be executed because of his age.

Autopsy reports show Carson was shot several times, including a blast to her head from a shotgun. The 22-year-old from Athens, Ga., was found on a street not far from the university's campus.

Authorities said in search warrants that Lovette and Atwater entered Carson's home through an open door and kidnapped her to take her to an ATM. Police believed both defendants shot her, but those details have not been confirmed by prosecutors.

Lovette also is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato, who was found dead Jan. 18 in his apartment near the university's campus in Durham, about a 20-minute drive from Chapel Hill. Stephen Oates, 19, of Durham, also is charged with murder in Mahato's death.