Durham, N.C. —- The judge presiding Friday at the first court appearance of a teenager charged with killing University of North Carolina student body President Eve Carson, an Athens, Ga., resident; and another student pleaded with state lawmakers to meet immediately and address gang violence.

"I'm sending an SOS to Raleigh," said Durham County District Court Judge Craig Brown. "I expect them to hear it."

Brown's call for a special legislative session came as a surprise in the courtroom where Laurence Lovette made his initial appearance on murder charges in the slaying of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato.

Police have not said that Lovette, 17, of Durham, was a member of a gang, or that the deaths of Mahato and Carson were gang-related. In both cases, robbery appears to be the primary motive.

Lovette made his first court appearance in Carson's case later Friday in nearby Hillsborough. Orange County District Court Judge Joe Buckner ordered him held without bond. Wearing an orange jumpsuit with his wrists and ankles shackled, Lovette smiled widely as he was escorted into a police cruiser to be taken back to jail in Durham.

Authorities have also charged Demario Atwater, 21, of Durham, in Carson's death and Stephen Lavance Oates, 19, of Durham in Mahato's killing.

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said he hasn't decided whether he will seek the death penalty against Atwater.

A death sentence hasn't been handed down in Orange County since 1970, he said. Lovette isn't eligible for the death penalty because of his age.

Durham police Chief Jose Lopez did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment, and assistant prosecutor Tracey Cline declined to answer questions about the judge's remarks after the short hearing in Durham.

Mayor Bill Bell said he's been given no indication the deaths are tied to gangs, but he said he supports the judge's call for more help from the state.

He said a recent city study found that roughly 1,000 people in the city of about 190,000 people have a gang affiliation.

"We're trying to get a handle on it so that we can manage it," Bell said. "But it's not limited just to Durham. We're finding gangs in small cities, mid-sized cities and the large cities."