A Durham man will spend the rest of his life in federal prison for the death of the popular University of North Carolina student body president. Demario Atwater was sentenced to two life sentences and three 10-year sentences in connection with the 2008 murder of Eve Carson.
Atwater, 22, is the oldest of two defendants accused in the Carson case. Laurence Alvin Lovette was 17 at the time of the crime.

Judge James Beatty sentenced Atwater to life on the charge of kidnapping resulting in death and 10 years for discharging a weapon resulting in death. He also sentenced him ti life on carjacking charges and two additional 10-year sentences on federal weapons charges. Those sentences will run concurrent to the kidnapping sentence.

Atwater Apologizes to Carsons

The judge also ordered Atwater to pay restitution, as required by law, but said it was unlikely that Atwater would ever been released from prison.

During the sentencing hearing, Atwater addressed the Carson family.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened," he said. "No matter what the court did today it would be far from anything I should receive."

Lovette is still facing murder, kidnapping and robbery in state court.

Police said Atwater and Lovette kidnapped Carson from her home in Chapel Hill, forced her into her SUV and forced her to withdraw $1,400 from ATM machines. Carson was shot five times with a small caliber handgun and once with a sawed-off shotgun.

Her body was left in the street near the UNC campus.

http://crime.about.com/b/2010/09/25/atwater-gets-life-in-eve-carson-murder.htm