RALEIGH (AP) — The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ordered a new sentencing for one of those charged in the death of University of North Carolina student body president Eve Carson.
The court ruled Tuesday that Laurence Lovette must be resentenced because a judge was not allowed to consider mitigating factors before imposing a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Lovette was convicted of first-degree murder in Carson’s 2008 shooting. A jury also found Lovette guilty of kidnapping, armed robbery, felony larceny and possession of stolen goods in the Athens, Ga., native’s death.
Since Lovette’s conviction, the U.S Supreme court has ruled that a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole is not allowed for a defendant under age 18 when the crime was committed.