More charges in Atwater case

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- More charges have been filed in the federal case against Demario Atwater.

UNC student body president Eve Carson's alleged killer is facing more charges, after a Federal Grand Jury updated charges against Demario James Atwater.

According to court documents, eight "special findings" were issued against Atwater, including a finding that, "the defendant, Demario James Atwater, committed the homicide offense in an especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner in that it involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victim, Eve Marie Carson."

Documents state further findings suggest that Atwater allegedly planned to cause Carson's death and that one of his motives for the crime was robbery.

Investigators believe Carson was taken near her Chapel Hill home on the morning of March 5, 2008. According to an autopsy report, Carson was shot five times including the face. Investigators have said Atwater and the other suspect in her death - Lawrence Lovette Jr. - drove Carson's SUV to various ATMs in Chapel and Durham before the murder.

Three weeks ago, Atwater was arraigned in federal court in Greensboro. He pleaded not guilty to all federal charges.

The new indictment against Atwater replaces the first federal charges which came in October.

Orange County DA Jim Woodall says he will seek the death penalty in the murder trial, but Orange County juries rarely support death sentences.

A trial for 22-year-old Atwater is scheduled for November.

Lovette's trial could start this summer, but at the time of Carson's death, Lovette was only 17-years-old. So he's not eligible for capital punishment.

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