Let us not forget Lauren
Burk every year on December 30 and March 4 every year. We will not forget the
way you live on this earth.
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Lauren Burk (December
30, 1989 to March 4, 2008)
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Lauren A. Burk
Birth
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30 Dec 1989
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Death
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4
Mar 2008 (aged 18)
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Burial
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Marietta,
Cobb County, Georgia, USA
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Memorial ID
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25091194 · View
Source
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Lauren was born in Marietta, Georgia,
the daughter of James and Vivian Burk. She graduated from Walton High School,
and was a freshman student at Auburn University, where she was a member of the
Delta Gamma sorority and played lacrosse. She met her boyfriend, Sean McQuade,
in high school and both attended Auburn where one of her favorite songs was
Coldplay's "(Don't Panic) Beautiful World." She was found mortally
wounded on the road, and later passed away at East Alabama Medical Center.
Friends described Lauren as "well-liked by everyone, a very good student,
always smiling, always laughing and happy." She is survived by her
parents; sister, Jacklyn; and brother, Chad.
Pictorial tribute
Pictorial tribute
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25091194/lauren-a_-burk]
Lauren Burk, 1989-2008
Lauren A. Burk memorial service at Auburn UniversityScholarship and contribution information
Auburn University is creating a scholarship fund in remembrance of Lauren Burk. For more information, contact the AU Office of Development at (334) 844-8700.
Contributions may be made to the Invisible Children's Fund at http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php, to the American Kidney Fund, 72 Edgewood Ave. Atlanta, GA 30303 or Lauren A. Burk Memorial Scholarship Fund at Oglethorpe University www.oglethorpe.edu.
You can also make a contribution to the Delta Gamma Foundation in Lauren's name at http://www.formrouter.net/forms01@DGF/gift_honor_memory.html.
Special messages
As the campus and community continue to grieve the death of Auburn University student Lauren Burk, the following statements have been released by the university.
Message from James Burk, father of Lauren Burk
"The Burk family was so proud to have Lauren as an Auburn University student. We want to extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to Auburn University, the City of Auburn, and the Auburn Police Department. We feel very close to your community. We appreciate what everyone is doing for us and Lauren."
Message from the Dean of Students Johnny Green
In light of the recent loss of a member of the Auburn family, our own Lauren Burk, who was tragically killed on Tuesday, I thought it important that I send you a quick note.
First, let me express my deep condolences to Lauren’s family and our friends in her Georgia community. Many of you have shared your heartfelt prayers for their strength through this ordeal. To Lauren’s sorority sisters, we pray for you who were extended sisters to her. Lauren will remain special in our memory, and so many of you are already working on ways to commemorate her.
I want to remind all of you to please be aware of your surroundings at ALL times, both on campus and off, and if you are traveling at night use the buddy system. We’ll continue to be vigilant in our efforts to ensure your safety, but we want you to take that responsibility for yourself, too.
We have counseling available, and if you would like to speak to me, I am clearing my calendar to meet with any who need to talk. You are my highest priority, and I want you to be able to work through this tragedy with all the support you need.
Your Dean of Students,
Johnny Green
 |
|
Lauren Burk
(December 30, 1989 to March
4, 2008)
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/libertariangirl/2322010789]
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Message from Auburn University President
Dr. Jay Gogue
"We are so saddened by this situation, words simply aren't adequate. This is a close-knit community that rarely experiences such a tragedy, so our heartfelt prayers and thoughts go out to those in Lauren's community in Marietta, and especially to her family."
"We are so saddened by this situation, words simply aren't adequate. This is a close-knit community that rarely experiences such a tragedy, so our heartfelt prayers and thoughts go out to those in Lauren's community in Marietta, and especially to her family."
INTERNET SOURCE: http://ocm.auburn.edu/news/alert/burk/
Man convicted of killing Auburn student from Marietta appeals death
sentence
By Zachary
Hansen, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A man
sentenced to death row for the kidnapping and killing of an Auburn University
student from Marietta in 2008 has filed an appeal for a new trial, Channel 2
Action News reported Friday.
Courtney
Lockhart, a U.S. Army veteran from Smith Station, Ala., was convicted in 2011
for the murder of Lauren Burk, who was 18 years old and a college freshman.
Lockhart was
found guilty of forcing her to undress before shooting her in the back when she
tried to jump out of her moving car March 4, 2008. She was found a few miles
from Auburn’s campus and died later that night at East Alabama Medical Center.
Burk’s Honda
Civic was found burning shortly afterward at the Hinton Field parking lot near
a dormitory on campus. Lockhart was arrested three days later in Phenix City,
Ala.
According to
a letter from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, Lockhart is now filing for
a new trial, claiming his defense attorney, Jeremy Armstrong, gave such an
inadequate defense that he deserves another chance, Channel 2 reported.
Jim Burk,
Lauren’s father, told the news station he’s furious that Lockhart is trying to
appeal and get out of his death sentence.
“Oh,
it’s made me sad and nervous and upset and confused altogether,”
Burk said. “My goal is to make sure he gets nothing
that he wants.”
In 2011,
Lockhart was sentenced to life without parole by a Lee County, Ala., jury, but
the judge decided to overrule the jury and sentenced Lockhart to death.
“And for him
to be able to sit in that cell every day and think about his life ending one
day like my daughter’s did, it gives me some sort of comfort,” Burk told
Channel 2.
Lauren Burk
graduated from Walton High School in 2007 and was a member of Delta Gamma
sorority at Auburn.
Lockhart’s hearing
will be Dec. 17 in Alabama.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/VictimsFamiliesForTheDeathPenalty/posts/1834764613312163
......…...https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/man-convicted-killing-auburn-student-from-marietta-appeals-death-sentence/PEk06LJGopVID0uW0mMuJO/
Parents of murdered Auburn University student furious killer wants new
trial
By: Richard
Elliot, WSBTV.com
Updated: Dec
9, 2018 - 8:47 PM
COBB COUNTY,
Ga. - The parents of a Georgia teenager murdered at Auburn University a decade
ago are furious that the man convicted of killing her has asked for a new
trial.
Lauren Burk,
from Marietta in metro Atlanta, was a freshman at Auburn University and a
graduate of Walton High School.
Investigators
say Courtney L. Lockhart kidnapped Burk from her campus apartment, forced her
to undress as he drove her around and then shot her in the back as she tried to
escape from a moving car.
Lockhart was
arrested for Burk’s murder in 2008 and sentenced to death in an Alabama
courtroom in 2011.
Now, Lockhart
is claiming his defense attorneys were so bad he deserves a new trial.
Burk's
parents think it is unfair that he keeps getting appeals.
Jim and
Vivian Burk are still haunted by their daughter's death 10 years after it
happened. They recently received a letter from the Alabama attorney general's
office alerting them that Lockhart will appeal his death sentence.
This latest
appeal infuriates the Burks, who must now endure seeing him back in the same
courtroom in which he was convicted.
The Cobb
County couple say they just want to see Lockhart pay for what he did to their
daughter.
"For
him to be able to sit in that cell every day and think about one day his life
ending like my daughter's, it gives me some sort of comfort,"
Jim Burk said.
Vivian Burk
said they are both still haunted by the details of the crime that took their
daughter's life.
"He
shot her in the back like a coward," Vivian Burk
said. "She was trying to escape from a moving car
and he made her undress. She was, you know, totally helpless."
Lockhart’s
latest hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17 in Alabama. Depending on the outcome,
it mark the end of his appeals.
But the Burks
are angry that their daughter's killer gets the chance to appeal at all.
"I
just don't understand why a murderer, as heinous as this crime was, as far as
how he abducted my daughter, is able to have all these options and Lauren has
no options," Jim Burk said.
Vivian Burk
feels like Lockhart is being given chances her daughter never had.
"So
why should he have any more rights than my daughter did?"
Vivian Burk asked. "He took her rights away, and
he took her life away."
Jim Burk said
his grief is more manageable than it was 10 years ago, but it is still there,
and so is his anger at Lockhart.
"You
know, Lauren's not breathing anymore, and there's no reason that he should
be," Jim Burk said. "That's
just the way I feel."
Her killer was sentenced to death. Now, he wants a second chance
Lauren Burk was forced to undress, then shot when she tried to escape
her captor. Now, the
man convicted of the murder says his attorney wasn't good enough.
Author: Hope Ford
Published: 10:13 PM EST December 9, 2018
Updated: 1:26 AM EST December 10, 2018
Published: 10:13 PM EST December 9, 2018
Updated: 1:26 AM EST December 10, 2018
In 2011, Jim Burk sat in a courtroom, staring at the man convicted of killing his daughter, Lauren. He thought it would be the last time he would have to see him. But now, seven years later, Jim will return to court, to face him once again.
“Yeah, I’m going to have to
look at him again, and I sit in my house and I think about that,” Jim began. “For some reason, I feel immune to it. I feel when I look at
him I don’t even have a sense of being. I’m looking at something that changed
and ruined my life as that part of my life with my daughter.”
Courtney Lockhart was convicted for the
2008 murder of Lauren, an 18-year-old college freshman. Lauren was kidnapped
from Auburn University in March of that year. A jury found Lockhart guilty,
12-0, of forcing her to undress, then shooting her in the back when she tried
to jump out of his car.
"Facts don’t lie," Jim told 11Alive's Hope
Ford. "And everything was proven beyond a
reasonable doubt that it was an intentional murder, premeditated.”
Although the jury recommended a sentence
of life without parole, the judge eventually sentenced Lockhart to death,
because of his lengthy criminal history.
Since that day, Jim hasn’t worried about
having to see him again.
That is until October of 2018, when the
Cobb County family received a letter from the Alabama District Attorney’s
office. It said Lockhart is filing for a new trial, stating he deserved a
second chance because his attorney at the time, wasn't good enough.
And just like that, Jim realized he
might have to relive it all over again.
“I was a little scared, I was
a little nervous, I was angry, I was upset with the system and a little
anxious,” Jim
said. “I feel like this whole thing happened yesterday.
I miss her every single day, I miss her every single minute.”
Lockhart’s new hearing is set for Dec.
17 in Lee County, Alabama. Jim, Lauren’s mother, her siblings, sorority sisters
and friends of the family plan to make the drive, to be in court.
Jim isn’t sure what will happen, but he
knows he wants Lockhart to remain in prison and serve his original sentence.
“I truly believe it’s an eye
for an eye. She’s not breathing anymore. Why should he?”
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