HILLSBOROUGH - Demario James Atwater has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson. Another suspect is also charged, but is being intensely sought by police.

Atwater was arrested at 5 a.m. today following a tip to Chapel Hill police, officials said.

Police announced at 4:30 today that Lawrence Alvin Lovett Jr., 17, whom they believe to be the driver pictured in the first ATM photograph, has also been named in warrants in the death, but remains at large.

Earlier this afternoon, Atwater had a first appearance before Orange County District Court Judge Alonzo Coleman.

"We want to get hold of the other young man, so we can sit down and talk with him," said Chapel Hill police chief Brian Curran.

Atwater, 21, believed to be the person in the convenience store photo released by police, will be held without bond. He had an abrasion on his right cheek and wore a black shirt, green pants and black and green athletic shoes.

He has been provisionally appointed a public defender.

In a development related to the Carson case, police approached a house on Shepherd Street in Durham and after 3 p.m. started demanding that an inhabitant come out. A team of heavily armed officers finally blew up the house's front door, but left without locating a suspect believed to be Lovett.

After the hearing for Atwater, District Attorney Jim Woodall said he could not comment on the evidence against Atwater and said he could not say if other charges would be brought against him.

Chancellor James Moeser issued a statement after the police announcement of charges brought in the case.

"We are grateful for the intense efforts over the past week by the Chapel Hill Police Department and other law enforcement agencies," Moeser said. "Our interests are in seeing justice served and helping our community during this difficult time."

This morning, an assistant public defender and an investigator with the public defender's office entered the Chapel Hill police station, where the person detained reportedly was being questioned. The lawyer, Susan Seahorn, and investigator, Beth Winston, declined to say why they were there.

A few hours later, Orange Superior Court Judge Carl Fox arrived at the police department. Authorities did not offer an explanation for Fox's presence.

Carson, 22, of Athens, Ga., was found shot to death a week ago today on a neighborhood street north of the campus. She was the student body president and a Morehead-Cain scholar.

Return to www.newsobserver.com for more information to be published here as it becomes available.

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