When the stu­dent body pres­i­dent of the University of North Carolina, Eve Marie Carson, was mur­dered in 2008, both the state and the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment ini­ti­at­ed death penal­ty pros­e­cu­tions against one of the defen­dants. However, many of Ms. Carson’s fam­i­ly and friends were con­vinced that she opposed the death penal­ty and would not want it sought in her case. Family mem­bers were influ­en­tial in the recent deci­sion by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to accept a plea of guilty from defen­dant Demario Atwater in exchange for a sen­tence of life with­out parole in the fed­er­al case. North Carolina pros­e­cu­tors fol­lowed suit and accept­ed a sim­i­lar deal. A recent edi­to­r­i­al in the Charlotte News & Observer not­ed that the fam­i­ly said the out­come ​“hon­ors Eve’s love of life and all peo­ple.” The edi­to­r­i­al con­clud­ed: ​“A desire for revenge, an eye for an eye, would have been entire­ly under­stand­able. Somehow, the Carsons man­aged to resist it in the name of their daugh­ter. For their courage in even fac­ing this day, they deserve the admi­ra­tion of all. Their daugh­ter was a very spe­cial per­son. The same may be said of those who raised her.” Read full text of arti­cle below.

For Eve

Eve Marie Carson received many hon­ors in her brief life­time. She was an out­stand­ing under­grad­u­ate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pop­u­lar among a vir­tu­al mul­ti­tude of her fel­low stu­dents who cher­ished her gen­tle ways and compassionate friendship.

She was respect­ed by them so much that they elect­ed her stu­dent body pres­i­dent. She was by all accounts a young woman who was on her way to mak­ing a dif­fer­ence in this world, thought­ful and com­mit­ted to the peo­ple and caus­es about which she cared.

On Monday, in a Hillsborough court­room, her fam­i­ly rec­og­nized her good­ness again and remind­ed all who knew her, or just knew of her, just how much she will be missed. Thanks to them, to their daugh­ter and to their shared oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty, Demario Atwater, charged in her bru­tal slay­ing that took place on March 5, 2008, will not go on tri­al for his life. The Carson fam­i­ly sto­ical­ly sat in court as Raleigh attor­ney Wade Smith, who has been advis­ing them, read their state­ment regard­ing the life-with­out-parole plea agreement.

The state­ment was pow­er­ful, say­ing that ​“today’s out­come is nei­ther ade­quate nor good,” but that ​“it hon­ors Eve’s love of life and all peo­ple.” Family mem­bers — Carson’s father, Bob, her moth­er, Teresa Bethke, and her broth­er, Andrew Carson — did not speak. ​“We won’t be talk­ing to the court about how our lives are dimin­ished with­out Eve,” Smith read.

So with the court’s accep­tance of the plea deal, Atwater will not face a death penal­ty tri­al at which the full force of the state would have been brought against him, and instead will spend the rest of his own wast­ed life in prison.

His co-defen­dant, Laurence Alvin Lovette, now 19, is charged with mur­der, kid­nap­ping and rob­bery in the case, which for him is pend­ing. Because he was 17 at the time of the slay­ing, he will not face the death penal­ty. Both Atwater and Lovette were on pro­ba­tion, but their super­vi­sion was dis­grace­ful­ly lax, which was the case for too long in North Carolina.

The crime was espe­cial­ly bru­tal, with Carson tak­en from her home, dri­ven around to with­draw cash from ATM machines and shot five times. The first four shots did not kill her. A final shot­gun blast did.

It must have been unspeak­ably hor­ri­ble for her fam­i­ly to know that, and to hear it in court. They were brave sim­ply in their presence.

A desire for revenge, an eye for an eye, would have been entire­ly under­stand­able. Somehow, the Carsons man­aged to resist it in the name of their daugh­ter. For their courage in even fac­ing this day, they deserve the admi­ra­tion of all. Their daugh­ter was a very spe­cial per­son. The same may be said of those who raised her.

(“For Eve,” News and Observer, May 26, 2010). See also Editorials and Victims.

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