DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/10/08
Speaking at his friend's funeral Sunday afternoon at Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, Ole Miss freshman Chase Aertker remarked how, even in death, Lauren Burk was still bringing people together.
The night before, he reunited with about 60 of Burk's friends from Walton High School, gathering in the same basement where they had spent so many nights together in high school. Burk's spirit, he said, brought them closer than ever.
 UNC |
| Eve Carson |
 Associated Press |
| Lauren Burk |
"It was as if Lauren was with us," Aertker said. "We realized how much Lauren had touched us all."
University of North Carolina senior Eve Carson was likewise eulogized at her funeral Sunday afternoon in Athens. Carson, 22, was found shot to death early Wednesday morning less than a mile from her home in Chapel Hill, N.C., mere hours after the 18-year-old Burk was fatally shot in Auburn.
It's been a dizzying week for Burk's friends, and Saturday was especially tough. The night before, Courtney Larrell Lockhart, 23, had been arrested in Alabama in connection with Burk's murder. He has since been charged.
Saturday afternoon, a memorial service was held in a Marietta church for the Auburn freshman.
"Yesterday was incredibly hard to get through," said Jay Seyfried, an Auburn junior who also attended Walton. His parents invited Burk's friends over Saturday night.
They watched her favorite movie, "Across the Universe." They played the interactive video game, "Guitar Hero," the set list composed of classic rock songs Lauren liked best. At the end of the night, they shared a toast in honor of their late friend.
"Then we all hugged each other," Aertker said. "None of us wanted to leave.
"I'll never forget that night for the rest of my life."
Auburn will hold a campuswide memorial service in Burk's honor Monday.
Earlier Sunday afternoon, in Athens, a standing-room-only crowd packed into the 800-seat sanctuary of First United Methodist Church paid final respects to a young lady who, many said, could have changed the world.
Longtime friend Amble Johnson said Carson was headed for success.
"She had great potential, but she also used all of her potential," said Johnson, who had known Carson since they were 5 years old. "She could've succeeded at whatever she wanted to."
In a statement delivered through the Rev. Bill Britt during the funeral, Carson's father, Bob Carson, lamented his daughter's death.
"The senseless murder of my sweet, sweet Eve saddens our family," her father said. "The irony of Eve's murder is that she and her peers can solve the most pressing problems of our day, they are so bright."
Authorities now are looking for a suspect whose photo was taken at an ATM in what is believed to be Carson's vehicle, which was located by Chapel Hill police Wednesday, more than a mile from where her body was discovered.
Carson was, by all accounts, a wunderkind too modest to acknowledge her own brilliance. Her priority lay in helping those around her.
"Her intellectual capacity was breathtaking," said Travis Starkey, a friend from UNC who traveled from Clarksdale, Miss., to attend the funeral. "She was interested in what we could do for one another to best help the freshmen."
Carson, valedictorian of the 2004 senior class at Clarke Central High in Athens, went to UNC as a Morehead Foundation scholar, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society and was the seated student body president.
Maxine Easom, Carson's high school principal, said it's hard not to think about what the slain student could have accomplished.
"In her very short 22 years, she affected everyone," Easom said. "You couldn't be with her and not be affected."
— Rebecca McCarthy contributed to this story.
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