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Subscribe to RSSGeorge Huguely, a former University of Virginia lacrosse player, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his former girlfriend and fellow student-athlete, Yeardley Love. NBC's Lilia Luciano reports.
Steve Helber / AP file
George Huguely V is escorted into the Charlottesville Circuit courthouse Wednesday.
Updated at 10:30 p.m. EST: CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Jurors on Wednesday found former University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely V guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, NBC News reported.
Huguely of Chevy Chase, Md., was charged in the death of 22-year-old Yeardley Love, whose body was found battered, bleeding and bruised in the bedroom of her Charlottesville apartment in the early hours of May 3, 2010.
The jury of seven men and five women also found Huguely guilty of grand larceny but not guilty on four other charges: felony murder in the commission or attempted commission of a robbery; robbery; burglary - breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny; and statutory burglary - breaking and entering with intent to commit assault and battery.
Huguely, 24, did not visibly react to the verdict, and there was no overt sign of emotion from families of the victim and the defendant.
Jurors recommended Huguely receive 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction and one year on the grand-larceny conviction, NBC News reported. They could have recommended up to 60 years total. The judge must still decide whether to agree with the jury recommendation or reduce it but cannot issue a sentence longer than the recommendation.
Anonymous / AP
Yeardley Love is shown in this University of Virginia photo.
Circuit Judge Edward Hogshire scheduled an April hearing for formal sentencing.
The recommendation came just a few hours after jurors heard sentencing-phase testimony delivered right after they convicted Huguely. That testimony included a tearful responses from Love's mother, Sharon Love, and Yeardley's older sister, Lexie.
“Every day is different,” Sharon Love said. “We've done the best we can to do something positive in Yeardley's name, but some days are unbearable."
The defense called no witnesses, NBC News said, but appealed to jurors to remember Huguely's police station plea about Yeardley Love: "Please tell me she's not dead."
After receiving sentencing instructions, jurors adjourned to a private room to deliberate Huguely's fate.
After the sentencing recommendation, Prosecutor Dave Chapman told reporters gathered outside the courthouse that "there are no winners in this case -- nothing but loss everywhere." However, he said, he hoped the Love family could "feel solace today."
Sharon and Lexie Love, in a prepared statement obtained by NBC News, thanked Chapman and others for their efforts in Yeardley's case.
"We will continue to keep her spirit alive by performing works of kindness in her name," they said.
Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player on the women's team, was found face down on her pillow. Her right eye was swollen and bruised, she had marks on her chest that suggested she was grabbed and had injuries around her jaw and inside her mouth and neck. Jurors heard several potentially lethal consequences of such injuries. A coroner concluded the young woman from suburban Baltimore died of blunt force trauma.
In a police interrogation video viewed by jurors, Huguely said he went to Love's apartment to talk about their sputtering, two-year relationship and she "freaked out" when he broke into her room. Their encounter quickly turned physical, with Huguely admitting he may have shaken her but insisting he didn't grab her neck or punch her. He also claimed she repeatedly banged her head on the bedroom wall.
A medical expert for the defense testified that Love likely was smothered, her face buried in her own blood-dampened pillow. Huguely's defense team has also suggested Love's death was the result of drinking and a prescription drug she took for attention-deficit disorder. A coroner said both substances were in her body but not in potentially lethal doses.
The prosecution painted a much more sinister scenario.
Huguely went to her apartment less than one week after he sent her a threatening email about her relationship with a North Carolina lacrosse player.
In the email, Huguely wrote that when he found out about the relationship, "I should have killed you."
In court, Chapman portrayed Huguely as intent on controlling Love. He came to her apartment to physically impose his will, kicking a hole in her bedroom door and reaching in and unlocking the door, the prosecutor said.
"That's the beginning of terror, ladies and gentlemen," said Chapman, who seemed to sob as he began closing arguments Saturday. "It's just unimaginable what that woman went through and you know it."
Then 210 pounds and nearly a foot taller than Love, Huguely battered her face and likely held her down by her neck and covered her mouth, the prosecutor said.
Prosecution medical experts said her death, which came about two hours after Huguely left, could have been caused by a loss of blood flow from the carotid artery. They also testified about bruising on her brain - the result of her brain striking the interior of her skull - and blood pooling near her brain stem. The latter was likely caused by a wrenching or torqueing of the head, experts testified.
Chapman said Huguely left Love's apartment with her laptop computer, tossing it in a trash bin in an apparent attempt to hide incriminating emails.
The alleged computer theft was critical in the prosecution's case. Chapman sought a conviction on felony murder, saying Love was fatally injured during a robbery.
In his closing arguments, defense attorney Francis McQ. Lawrence described Huguely as hulking, hard-drinking jock but no killer. He acknowledged Huguely had an unintended, accidental role in Love's death, arguing for a finding of involuntary manslaughter and a 10-year prison term.
Huguely, a member of a well-to-do Washington family, was a "boy athlete" and he and Love lived in what Lawrence described as a "lacrosse ghetto" where drinking, sexually charged relationships and emotional outbursts were the norm among elite athletes.
Huguely now bears little resemblance to the stocky 6-foot, Division I athlete of nearly two years ago. He is about 30-40 pounds lighter and pasty from his time in jail awaiting trial. He did not testify during the trial.
Jurors have asked to view a police interrogation video recorded hours after Love's death in which he reacted incredulously when told Love was dead.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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he should never get out, domestic abusers never get fixed, especially in prison where aggresiin is needed to survive
Karma is always ready when these rich psychopath's crack. I bet he wishes he had called a time out, but now he's in the real world and that silver spoon is going to get stuck someplace else.
Wasted youth at both ends! They really should string this kid up though. Saddens me to think he'll eventually see the light of day again.
This verdict and punishment is nothing but a joke. Expected though coming from VA. And people jump up and down about all the killings going on. Now you know why these people go ahead and kill. No punishment. Well get ready to find out who is next.
This is utter bull crap...and why we need a President with "balls" to step up to the plate and start making the death sentence a MUST in murder cases. Just kill the murderers...that is fair, and you will save the country and taxpayers a LOT of money. Why do I have to pay for this fool to rot in prison for 20 years...which will probably be reduced when he gets OUT...why does he get OUT? what the heck is 20 years for murder?
Absolutely ridiculous...she is dead and he has bruises on his hands. I hope Bubba smashes this dude to literal death so I don't have to pay for his 3 hots and a cot anymore.
If you want the president to get involved in state cases like this murder, then you are a bigger threat to freedom than he is! And the sentence, which seems inadequate to so many of us, is far longer than he would get in many other "civilized" jurisdictions for the same thing.
This is so sad as the prosecutor said there is no winner in this case, just losers. Two families have been destroyed.
It is a very sad situation. Domestic abuse happens all the time. As I have posted in other articles, I lived in FL and saw at least 4 women and sometimes the new boyfriend killed by a crazy ex. Restraining orders were in place, but that is just a piece of paper.
In all the cases families were destroyed by the actions of a spurned lover.
Maybe one of the posters is right that we need to have classes that teach kids how to handle rejection and the such to maybe avoid things of this sort.
Let this be a lesson to all you other douchebag-jock fratboy types who think it's cool to smack your girlfriend around. A$$holes like this need to be hanged.
The uncontrolled angry from one person can destroy the whole village. The actions of this guy didn't just destroy the girl, it destroyed her whole village and not just her village but his family is also destroyed. But let's go a little deeper because some people with money think they are entitled and that they are above the law. This boy showed signs of trouble well before he went off to school. This guy is good looking, family is rich and probably very charming; this guy could have easily become a serial killer and the world would never have believed it was him.
The parents should have seeked help for this boy years ago; his behavior problems surfaced well before this girls tragic death. Rich parents need to stop passing their children off to the Nanny and start raising their own children.
Good. Too bad the jury didn't recommend the maximum sentence.
Hope he serves every day of what he is sentenced to.
I know it's the job of the defense attorney to cast a reasonable doubt on the charges against the client, but some of their claims were so absurd, I can't help but think they hurt the defense instead -- especially the one that the brain injuries (caused by Hugeley beating Love's head against the wall) were caused by the EMTs performing CPR on her. He didn't kill her, the rescue workers did!
She 'freaked out' when he kicked in her door? No kidding!! Too bad she wasn't armed -- she might still be alive.
Enjoy prison loser. May it be with Big Moe, the 400 Pound Gay Hells' Angel for a cellmate.
Just another selfish male who thought he could own a female. Prison is too soft for these types. Each day for the rest of his natural life in the joint should include a harsh lesson why it is wrong to physically abuse women. This girl is dead because he staked a claim this girl's life and freedom to make her own decisions. The age old story.
I hope he does not go to a " Country Club Prison " for white rich boys. Justice will only be done if he is sent to the right prison !
Wait.... 2nd Degree murder!!! I think not! What a miscarriage of justice for an obvious psychopath and a tragedy for Love's family. He emails a week before that he 'should kill her' and then comes over and does just that. There were TWO HOURS in which he could have saved her life by simply calling an ambulance or 911 AFTER HE LEFT. He did nothing and let her die. He stole her laptop but the jury doesn't convict on felony murder and robbery. That's a no brainer. Then his 'heartfelt' tell me she isn't dead. WHAT!!! A psychopath can be a very convincing liar, that statement is pure narcissim because now he is afraid. This was premeditated first degree murder, sickening how justice for the 1% murderers and thieves is much less, like taxes, then what the 99% is treated too. I'd say he paid about 13% for this crime where a 99%'r would have paid 30% - 50%, the poor would have paid 100%.
Got no respect for the 1%, off with this punks head!!!
Throw away the key....
He should have been charged with first degree murder and received the death penalty. It pays to be rich and white.