Courtney Lockhart "hasn't been the same" since Iraq"

Mom of Auburn Slaying Suspect Apologizes
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 9, 2008; 12:30 PM

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- The mother of the man charged with killing an Auburn University student said her son was an Iraq war veteran who was changed after his service, and offered an apology to the freshman's family.

Catherine Williams, the mother of suspect Courtney Lockhart, made the apology to Lauren Burk's family in an interview with Columbus, Ga., television station WTVM.

"I am sorry that Courtney did that. ... First let me say I'm sorry to the Burk family for Courtney taking, taking their child. ... My heart goes out to her family," Williams said in the tearful interview.

But she also said her son did not confess anything to her.

Lockhart, 23, was arrested Friday in Phenix City, Ala., and was charged with capital murder in Burk's abduction and shooting death. Police would not say what led them to charge him in her death.

The 18-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was found shot on the side of an off-campus road Tuesday night and her car was found burning in a campus parking lot.

Williams told the television station that her son hasn't been the same after serving 16 months in Iraq. She says her son had been living with her in Smiths Station, Ala., since returning from the war.
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