Testimony in Laurence Lovette trial provides possible details on Eve Carson killing

A former UNC student said she was frightened by two men in baggy clothing she saw standing near her Pi Beta Phi sorority house early in the morning of March 5, 2008.

In the days that followed, Caroline Harper recounted that story to Chapel Hill police officers investigating the shooting of former Student Body President Eve Carson, who died that night. And Thursday, she retold the story to a jury during the second day of testimony in the trial of Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr.

Lovette, 21, faces first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and other charges in relation to Carson’s death. Lovette was 17 at the time of the shooting and cannot receive the death penalty if convicted.

Demario James Atwater, who was 21 at the time, has already been convicted of first-degree murder for the crime.

Prosecutors say Carson was abducted from her off-campus house while studying early in the morning of March 5, then taken to an ATM to withdraw money and later to the intersection at Hillcrest Road and Hillcrest Circle, where she was shot five times. Autopsy reports state she died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Harper said she was sitting in her car talking to her boyfriend on the phone at about 3:30 a.m. when she noticed two African American men, whose faces she could not positively identify, standing behind her car and looking at her.

“They were wearing dark, baggy clothing, hooded sweatshirts or jackets, and I think a cap,” she said. “They were late teens or early 20s.”

Frightened, she quickly backed up and drove to her boyfriend’s dormitory, and as she did so she saw the men walking toward campus – in the direction of nearby Friendly Lane, where Carson lived.

“It was just a couple of seconds before I got really frightened and drove away,” she said.

She told her boyfriend and members of her sorority about the event the next day, and later told police who she had seen.

Bryan Walker, an investigator with the Chapel Hill Police Department, said he was called in to review the sorority’s video surveillance based on Harper’s story. He said he saw two individuals stop by a dumpster in the area at 3:33 a.m., and what appeared to be the same pair passed through again at 5:17 a.m.

The defense questioned Harper’s recollection of the events, pointing out that she had just had an argument with her boyfriend and was upset.

Prosecutors said they believe the men Harper and Walker described match descriptions of Atwater and Lovette.

Carson’s last internet use was at 3:37 a.m., the prosecution said, placing her in her house at that time. The prosecution said they believe Carson was abducted at about 3:45 a.m.

Prosecutors say after Carson was abducted from her house, Lovette and Atwater drove her to the Willow Drive Bank of America ATM in Chapel Hill to withdraw money.

They have said Carson was then taken to and shot in the intersection, where she was found dead early the next morning. Details of the crime scene were the focus of Wednesday’s testimony.

The jury also heard testimony Thursday from Bank of America personnel and a professional who serviced surveillance equipment at the ATMs. The jury was shown photos taken both at the Willow Drive ATM and a Durham ATM where money was withdrawn from Carson’s account following the slaying.

ATM photos released during the 2008 search for Carson’s killer show a man, who prosecutors say is Lovette, wearing a Houston Astros baseball cap and driving what prosecutors say is Carson’s vehicle.

Officials have said they believe Carson and Atwater were in the backseat of the vehicle at the time when the photo was taken.

Sam Godwin, who was the client relationships manager at Bank of America in 2008, explained to the jury transactions on Carson’s debit card surrounding the time of the murder.

He said $700 was withdrawn on March 5 and another $700 on March 6 at two ATMs, and numerous failed efforts were made to withdraw more money on those days and early on March 7.

The first efforts failed because Carson had a $700 daily limit on her ATM card, and the final efforts fell through because by that point a stop had been placed on the account, rendering the card useless.

Godwin said money would have been withdrawn in $20 bills.

Johnnie Britt, an investigator with Chapel Hill police, also explained her involvement in the case to the jury.

Britt accompanied a friend of Carson’s to the medical examiners to identify the body, watched part of the autopsy and asked Bank of America for surveillance data and records related to Carson’s account.

Britt told the jury about the autopsy report, which showed Carson had been shot five times but had more than five wounds, since one shot was “through-and-through.”

Senior staff writer Chelsea Bailey contributed reporting