Eve Carson's Killer Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison, Says "Sorry" for Murdering Her with Shotgun

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (CBS/WRAL) The man who admitted killing Eve Carson, the student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was sentenced to life in federal prison without parole Thursday.

PICTURES: Eve Carson, UNC Student Murdered

Demario James Atwater, 24, avoided a possible death sentence in April when he pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including kidnapping and carjacking resulting in death, in connection with the March 2008 slaying.

Atwater, who was also ordered to pay $212,947.10 in restitution and to undergo treatment for substance abuse, apologized in court Thursday morning, looking directly at Carson's parents, according to CBS affiliate WRAL.

"I just want to say personally I'm sorry for everything that has happened," he told them.

Also having faced the death penalty in North Carolina, Atwater pleaded guilty in May to four state charges, including first-degree murder, in connection with Carson's death. He received a sentence of life in prison for the murder charge, along with a concurrent sentence of 23 to 29 years for armed robbery, kidnapping and firearms charges.

Under the agreement with the state, Atwater will serve his sentence in federal custody.

Prosecutors say that Atwater and another man, Laurence Alvin Lovette, Jr., abducted Carson from or near her home and took her in her SUV to make two ATM withdrawals of $700 each.

Then, on Hillcrest Road, blocks from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, prosecutors say, Lovette shot her four times with a handgun, and Atwater fired a fifth, fatal shot from a shotgun.

Lovette, who does not face federal charges in the case, is also charged with first-degree murder.

He does not face the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the slaying.

Carson's family did not speak Thursday but issued a statement at Atwater's May sentencing, saying that they supported a life sentence because it "honors Eve's love of life and all people."

The family said they chose not to speak in court or to confront Atwater.

"The selfishness of taking another's life is incomprehensible, and this coward is unaddressable," their attorney, Wade Smith, read from the family's statement.

Full Coverage of Eve Carson on Crimesider