Almost four years after Eve Carson was found shot to death on a dark, residential street near the UNC campus, the second of the two men accused of killing her was found guilty in an Orange County courtroom and sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The trial of Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr. brought back in heartbreaking detail the events of March 5, 2008, when Carson, the accomplished and popular UNC student body president, was abducted from her home. Prosecutors said Lovette and Demario James Atwater forced her into her car and drove her to ATMs in Chapel Hill and Durham, where they withdrew money from her account and then shot her five times.

Her murder stunned the community and set off a manhunt for her killers. Lovetter and Atwater were arrested in Durham the following week.

Atwater pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in federal prison. Lovette's case went to trial in mid-December, and five days before Christmas, with Carson's parents watching on, the jury returned its verdict: Guilty on all counts - first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery.

"I sense from the family of Ms. Carson that they understand the inadequacy of the court system in making this situation right," Judge Allen Baddour said afterward. "... The life Ms. Carson lived was too short, but I know that she continues to be an inspiration to thousands. ... That is small consolation, I know, but I hope it will be some consolation to her parents and family."