Demario Atwater, who is accused of killing UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson, is scheduled to stand trial on federal carjacking charges in a little less than a year. Atwater has pleaded not guilty. Carjacking resulting in a death is a capital crime under federal law. The Department of Justice has not yet approved an U.S. Attorney’s request to seek execution if Atwater is convicted. A judge has given the federal government until March 31 to decide if it will pursue death.
It is unclear if the Obama Administration will continue the Bush Administration’s aggressive policy of seeking the death penalty in federal court where such a sentence is unlikely in state court.
State authorities are seeking death against Atwater on murder and kidnapping charges, but the murder occurred in Orange County, which has not seen an execution in six decades. Atwater’s co-defendant, Lawrence Lovette, is ineligible for the death penalty in either state or federal court because he was under the age of 18 when the crime occurred.
