Students at the University of Virginia are planning to hold a candlelight vigil tonight in memory of slain lacrosse player Yeardley Love, the first campus-wide event organized in honor of the 22-year-old Cockeysville native.
Friends and acquaintances of Love have held private tributes since she was found dead in her off-campus apartment Monday morning, including a small candle ceremony on campus yesterday. But tonight's vigil, a public event at 8 p.m. in the university's McIntire Amphitheater, will be one of the few organized activities on a campus otherwise engrossed in preparations for exams.
University President John T. Casteen III is expected to speak, along with members of the Student Council, which organized the vigil.
"This is a difficult time for our community," Student Council President Colin Hood wrote in a message announcing the event. "The violent death … has left her many friends, classmates, and teammates grief-stricken. Many of us are in shock as to how such an act could occur."
Love's former boyfriend kicked a hole in her bedroom door near the University of Virginia campus, according to police, then left her lying in a pool of blood on her pillow, where she was later found dead.
George Huguely, the fellow Virginia student charged with first-degree murder in her death, told police that they had an altercation, search warrant affidavits say, and that he "shook Love and her head repeatedly hit the wall."
Huguely's defense attorney, Francis Lawrence, said Love's death was "an accident with a tragic outcome."
Huguely, who is from Chevy Chase and is a member of the men's lacrosse team, said little in a brief court appearance Tuesday. He wore a black-and-white-striped prison jumpsuit. A bail review hearing was postponed until June 10.
On a day when reflection mixed with disbelief and shock on the Virginia campus, news emerged Tuesday of a 2008 incident in Lexington, Va., in which Huguely was charged with public drunkenness and resisting arrest. After he was seen stumbling drunkenly into traffic during a fraternity party, Huguely threatened a Lexington police officer in what she recalled as a profanity-laced tirade.
"He used colorful statements such as, 'I'll kill all you bitches, y'all are a bunch of (expletive).…" Patrolwoman R.L. Moss said in a written statement, adding that Huguely continued to resist arrest and had to be Tasered before Moss could apply handcuffs.
In Charlottesville, a search warrant affidavit painted a grisly picture of the scene in Love's second-floor apartment when police arrived about 2:30 a.m. Monday. Love, a graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School for girls in Towson, had a large bruise on the right side of her face, her right eye was swollen shut and there were bruises and scrapes on her chin. She was face down.
"Based on this information, probable cause exists that Yeardley Love was murdered," the document said. "Life-saving procedures" were attempted on the young woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation led police to the nearby home of Huguely, 22, a lacrosse player and college senior who had dated Love. Huguely was taken to police headquarters in Charlottesville, where he waived his Miranda rights and, after being questioned, was charged with killing her.
Huguely told police that his relationship with Love had ended. Police found a hole in Love's bedroom door, and an affidavit says he admitted kicking his right foot through the door after entering the apartment through an unlocked front door. Police observed bruising on both of Huguely's hands and a scratch on his arm – injuries that he said he received while playing lacrosse.
Huguely said he and Love had communicated by e-mail and that — after the altercation that ended in her death — "he took Love's computer from the residence and disposed of it," the documents say. Huguely told police where he had left the computer and it was recovered, according to the affidavits.
The documents made available Tuesday sought court permission to search Love's and Huguely's apartments. Police also were seeking a warrant to take DNA samples from Huguely to compare with hair and other evidence found at the crime scene.
Love was found in her apartment by her roommate, Caitlin Whiteley, and a friend, Philippe Oudshoorn, who called 911. Whiteley told police she initially thought Love had passed out from alcohol poisoning.
Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said the cause of death will be determined by an autopsy, and noted that no weapon was involved.
In a courtroom packed with reporters Tuesday, Huguely was shown sitting in the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail via closed-circuit television. He appeared nervous, awaiting word from District Judge Robert Downer and Lawrence, a Charlottesville defense lawyer retained by the Huguely family.
After a discussion between Lawrence and the judge, a bail review hearing was postponed until June 10. Huguely's parents and stepfather sat in the back of the courtroom.
Afterward, Lawrence declined to answer questions but read from a statement outside the courthouse.
"Until more information becomes available, it is our hope that no conclusion will be drawn or judgment made about George or his case," the defense lawyer said. "However, we are confident that Ms. Love's death was not intended, but an accident with a tragic outcome."
In the meantime, Downer said Huguely was withdrawing from the university.
"Grief has descended on this community as we attempt to understand what happened and why," Lawrence said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those who grieve this terrible loss."
Love's death was the second homicide this year in Charlottesville. There were none in 2009.
Huguely comes from a family that has operated a Northwest Washington lumber and building supply business for nearly a century. His great-great grandfather, George W. Huguely Sr., co-founded Galliher & Huguely in 1912. The family's fourth generation now runs the business, according to the company website.
Before enrolling at Virginia in 2006, Huguely — whose full name is George Wesley Huguely V — attended the Landon School, a private boys school in Bethesda, where tuition is $28,826.
He was a standout athlete at Landon. He played quarterback on the football team that won a championship his senior year. He excelled on the powerhouse lacrosse team, becoming the fifth-leading goal scorer in school history with 87 and earning All-American accolades.
Among teammates, he was known as an easygoing prankster, according to a 2006 article in The Washington Post. He once took coach Rob Bordley's car keys during practice, drove to where his coach was and chatted from the driver's seat until Bordley realized what was happening. Huguely called it his "best prank."
"He's always in an upbeat mood," Bordley was quoted as saying. "Nothing really fazes him. I've asked my assistant coaches if they've ever seen him rattled and they said no. He's just unflappable."
This season at Virginia, the 6-foot-2, 209-pound Huguely played a backup role for the 14-1 Cavaliers, scoring seven points off the bench. The team's website lists his major as anthropology. His parents went through a lengthy divorce beginning in 1997.
The November 2008 incident in Lexington, 70 miles from Charlottesville, began when police received a 911 call from a fraternity house at Washington and Lee College. In her statement, Moss said she first asked Huguely if there was someone sober she could call to pick him up. When he said he was visiting and had no one to call, she said he would be arrested for public drunkenness.
That's when "he started yelling obscenities and making threats to myself" and a female probation officer who was with her. When she tried to handcuff him, "he started to resist and a brief 'tussle' occurred between myself and the male." Eventually, she Tasered him, she said, and another police officer arrived to help. "He continued to be combative even after placed inside the cruiser," she said.
Huguely was charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest. He pleaded guilty and received probation.
Love's killing has jarred the Virginia campus community. But at a university with 14,000 undergraduates, Love's death was largely overshadowed Tuesday by studies for those who didn't know her.
It was the last day of classes, and an annual end-of-year ice cream social went on as planned in the sunshine before Peabody Hall. Students burrowed into books and laptops at the library, prepping for the final exams that start tomorrow. Teaching assistants picnicked in the shade on the college's vast lawn. There were reports of a candlelight vigil being planned for the evening, but concrete plans were scarce.
School officials announced Tuesday night that the killing will not alter the schedules of Virginia's men's or women's lacrosse teams, which have qualified for postseason play.
French teaching assistant Pierre Dairon, 35, said he avoided talking about the homicide in his classes Tuesday. Students were already stressed over finals, he said, and he didn't want to "burden them" with the death.
Love's family has asked for privacy, and the sports community has locked down, turning inward for comfort.
The university recently held a memorial to remember several students who died during the year. One was killed in Haiti's earthquake and another in a bicycle accident. But it was unclear whether anything would be arranged in the wake of Love's death, so close to the summer break.
"It came at a really [difficult] time," said Cecily Greer, 21, who is majoring in women's and gender studies. "People are getting ready to go home and take their finals. … No one's really talking about it. It's unfortunate."
"There should be something more than just an e-mail" sent by the university administration, said 18-year-old psychology student Mariah Slade. "Something where we all come together."
In Alexandria, Va., the Notre Dame Prep lacrosse team won its final regular-season game, against one of its toughest out-of-conference rivals, St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School. The players dedicated Tuesday's game to Love, wearing Virginia orange bows in their hair and sporting Love's Cavaliers jersey number, according to coach Mary Bartel.
"They had a piece of black mourning tape around their sticks, and they had the No. 1 on their arms or legs somewhere … in eye black," Bartel said. At the start of the game, "we prayed as we always do, and then in the first-string huddle, Covie [Stanwick] said, 'Come on you all. This one's for Yeards.'"
Baltimore Sun reporters Nick Madigan and Katherine Dunn contributed to this article.
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