Laurence Alvin Lovette is in the Durham County jail, his $3.25 million bail a sign of how seriously the justice system treats the murder charges against him.

But before his March 13 arrest on charges of killing a Duke graduate student and the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, court officials passed up opportunities to detain the 17-year-old. They failed to act despite a history of juvenile and adult arrests that paints a pattern of escalating criminal behavior, according to court and police records and interviews with some of his victims.

Lovette's juvenile crimes were so serious that, at 15, a judge sentenced him to juvenile prison. The N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice could have kept him locked up until age 19 but paroled Lovette after 14 months.

Lovette quickly got into serious trouble again, breaking into a couple's home while they slept. Lovette, then 16, was arrested and charged with three felonies as an adult, as state law requires.

At that point, the juvenile system could have locked up Lovette for violating the conditions of his parole. Instead, it cut him loose and ended its involvement with him.

Lovette's adult file noted that he had been recently released from juvenile prison, yet prosecutors struck a lenient deal: Lovette pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors, was sentenced to two years of probation and left jail Jan. 16. Lovette never met his adult probation officer.

Lovette went on to be charged in a string of serious crimes: the Jan. 18 murder of Duke grad student Abhijit Mahato; a Jan. 29 burglary and car theft in Durham; and a robbery in February. During that time, Lovette was arrested twice. He twice got out, once on a $10,000 bail that guidelines said should have been set at $35,000.

On March 13, Lovette was arrested and charged with murdering Eve Carson, president of the UNC-CH student body.

Eric Zogry, the state juvenile defender, said he couldn't recall a case he handled where a juvenile violated parole and wasn't punished. They were sent back to youth prison or put in detention, said Zogry, who practiced for years in Greensboro. "There was always some sanction."

George Sweat, secretary of the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, declined to discuss Lovette's case, saying state law prohibits his department from discussing juvenile matters.

Juvenile records are closed to the public, on the theory that youthful mistakes should not be held against an adult. But state law contains certain exceptions that don't always allow someone to enter the adult system with a clean slate.

Durham District Attorney David Saacks, whose office handled Lovette both in adult and juvenile court, said he reads the law as requiring a judge's order to use juvenile records as a factor in adult court.

"It would stand the purpose of the juvenile code on end if I could go and get every juvenile court record," he said.

Saacks said his office would have treated Lovette more severely in adult court had it been able to use his juvenile record in plea negotiations.

"You can have a long juvenile record and go to adult court and be a virgin defendant," Saacks said.

Death, then troubles

Lovette's run-ins with the law apparently started after the death of his father, an administrator at N.C. Central University who died of a heart attack on Thanksgiving 2003. His first contact with the juvenile justice system was in 2004, according to a department employee who asked not to be named because employees are not allowed to discuss cases.

Alice Wisler, a resident of South Durham, said Lovette broke into her car in April 2006 and snatched her purse and a set of house and car keys. Nearly two weeks later, someone stole her Jeep. Five days later, after she changed locks at her home, someone broke in while the family was sleeping.

Wisler followed the case and was in court in July 2006 when Lovette was found guilty of breaking into her home and other crimes. Lovette was sentenced to C.A. Dillon Training School in Butner for burglary and other felonies, according to Wisler and the department employee.

Because Lovette's crimes were serious, the Department of Juvenile Justice could have kept Lovette locked up until he turned 19, in 2009. The department released Lovette from Dillon on Sept. 17, 2007, according to the department employee.

State law requires juvenile court counselors and Dillon employees to come up with a detailed plan for parole, known as "post-release supervision." Zogry, the juvenile defender, said oversight is stricter in the juvenile system than with adult offenders.

'Not kiddie court'

"It is not kiddie court," he said. "The sanctions and control are very strong over the juvenile and family, more so than adult court."

The law requires a minimum parole supervision of 90 days; it can last a year.

Lovette soon got back into trouble: less than two months later, Nov. 7, police found his fingerprint at a burgled home on the Hope Valley golf course.

The events echoed the break-ins at Wisler's home in 2006: A couple reported that a purse, wallet and car keys were stolen from their home while they slept. Durham police told the woman Lovette had a serious juvenile record and recommended changing their house and car locks. The woman asked not to be named because her house has been burglarized five times in the past year.

Police arrested Lovette at his home Nov. 13. He was held in Durham County jail on $20,000 bail. He stayed there until Jan. 16.

The police incident report labeled the crime as burglary, considered a violent crime because it involves breaking into an occupied home at night. Burglary sentences for a first-time offender range from 51 to 64 months.

However, Lovette was charged with felony breaking and entering, a lesser crime that doesn't require prison time. The court file showed that Lovette was on juvenile parole; the paperwork from his first court appearance says "Juv. Post Release" in the section where probation or parole is noted.

Saacks said he is investigating whether burglary charges should have been filed.

Judge: I didn't know

After two months in jail, Lovette pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts and was released. District Court Judge Ann McKown said she did not know about Lovette's lengthy record or that he was on juvenile parole when she released him on adult probation.

"Absolutely not," McKown said.

Two days later, on Jan. 18, Abhijit Mahato was killed in his Durham apartment.

On Jan. 23, Lovette returned to juvenile court. He had violated his parole with the Hope Valley break-in, and the judge could have sent him back to youth prison until he was 19.

That didn't happen: Lovette left court that day, free of the juvenile court system.

Timothy Blanch, a Durham lawyer, represented Lovette at the hearing but declined to discuss details of what occurred. District Court Judge William Marsh III presided in juvenile court that week; Marsh did not return phone calls and a message left at his office.

Saacks said he thought his office argued to revoke Lovette's juvenile parole and send him back to lockup. He referred questions to his juvenile prosecutor, Fungai Bennett, who declined to answer questions Thursday until she determined whether state law permitted her to discuss the case.

On Feb. 2, Lovette was arrested on charges of possessing a stolen car. He posted a $2,500 bail that day and was released.

That car had been stolen during a Jan. 29 burglary in southwest Durham. Police arrested Lovette again Feb. 4 and charged him with burglary and stealing the car.

Magistrate Donald Paschall set bail for Lovette at $10,000, though Durham's guidelines suggested $35,000 at the time. (Suggested bail is now $250,000 under new guidelines issued in March.) Lovette obtained bail through a bondsman and was released the same day.

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