GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A potential federal death-penalty trial for a man charged with killing a university student body president two years ago will stay in North Carolina.

U.S. District Judge James Beaty has denied a request by attorneys for Demario Atwater to move his trial on kidnapping and carjacking charges out of state.

Defense attorneys say extensive media coverage of the slaying of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson of Athens, Ga., make it impossible for Atwater to receive a fair trial.

Beaty ruled it is possible to find jurors who haven't made up their minds.

Atwater's federal trial is to begin in about two weeks in Winston-Salem. He also faces murder charges in state court. He could face the death penalty if convicted in either case.

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