Before students left UNC Chapel Hill for spring break last week, they were not only devastated by the murder of student body president Eve Carson, but on edge with her killer still on the loose. They are returning to campus with a different mindset now that the suspects are behind bars.

"When you have something happen like that it's hard for students to feel that same sense of security," senior Andrew Busscher said.

The two suspected killers, Laurence Lovette and Demario Atwater, are both charged with first degree murder. The suspects have extensive criminal records.

"It's pretty scary that people who have a criminal history like that could just be walking around," freshman Lindsey Ragsdell said.

Students, like senior Lauren Waldrin, say they used to feel safe to walking around anytime of day but now people may take extra precautions. Campus officials are reaching out to students through a new safety siren awareness campaign and they also have security officers available on campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"I think everybody thought, 'Oh we're in college -- we're invincible and we could do whatever we want,' but then you realize how valuable life is," Waldrin said.

Although the sadness of Carson's death still looms like a cloud over campus, the students say the arrests give them a sense of relief.

"Now that they're caught, it's a sense of closure.  Everybody got away for a while, were coming back and feel like we could start to move on," Waldrin said.

A memorial for Carson will take place Tuesday at the Dean E. Smith Center at 4 p.m.  Students are encouraged to wear school colors.

Related Links

1. http://www.unc.edu/