Police: UVA Student Admits Attacking Lacrosse Player

(May 4) -- A University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing a fellow student admitted he shook the young woman violently, banging her head repeatedly against a wall, police said in court documents released today.

But lawyers for George Huguely said this morning that the death of 22-year-old Yeardley Love, a women's lacrosse player at UVA, was an accident.

"We are confident that Ms. Love's death was not intended but an accident with a tragic outcome," Francis McQ. Lawrence, one of Huguely's defense lawyers, told reporters.

Love and Huguely were both supposed to graduate this month. Instead, Love was found dead in her apartment on Monday, the victim of "obvious physical trauma." Huguely, her off-and-on boyfriend, was charged with her murder.

Police said in an affidavit that Huguely admitted he kicked down the door to Love's bedroom and "that during the the course of the altercation he shook Love, and her head repeatedly hit the wall."

Amid mourning and shock, portraits of the two students have begun to emerge.

Those who knew her say Love was a "sweet, gentle" person with a "contagious smile" who loved playing lacrosse at the University of Virginia.

Love's friends, teammates and coaches described her as a fun-loving college senior from Cockeysville, Md., who had played high school lacrosse at Notre Dame Prep and volunteered her time with charities.

"She was our laughter, and she was the core personality," Notre Dame Prep lacrosse coach Mary Bartel told The Baltimore Sun. "She was a happy-go-lucky kid. She was a good soul."

In a high school essay, Love wrote that "my life has been filled with joy and happiness, and I hope to keep living my life that way."

Molly Ford, who played high school lacrosse with Love, said she still can't believe her former teammate is gone. "It was so shocking," Ford told the New York Daily News. "I felt like I had talked to her less than a week ago, and the fact that I'm never going to get to see her again is really, really hard."

Members of the Virginia lacrosse team have not spoken to reporters since Love's death, but their athletic director, Craig Littlepage, told The New York Times that the team described Love as "an angel" and said students were "torn apart" by her death.

At the Baltimore Sun's website, family and friends appear to be sharing their memories of Love in an open thread.

"She was always so happy and smiling. She would light up my day at practice," one person wrote anonymously. "She was the kindest person. Rest in peace, Yeardley."

A Facebook page commemorating the college senior has over 16,000 fans.

Less is known about Huguely, a 22-year-old star lacrosse player from Chevy Chase, Md.

Love's friends told ABC News that Huguely had a temper and may have abused alcohol. And Huguely has a record. In 2009, he was convicted of public intoxication and resisting arrest in Rockbridge County, Va., the ABC story reported.

In a phone interview with The Washington Post, Huguely's grandfather, George Huguely III, said, "He was a wonderful child, and he was going to graduate. Hopefully, he will be graduating. That's all I can tell you, OK? I'm sorry."

According to Charlottesville, Va., Police Chief Tim Longo, Huguely and Love "have had a romantic relationship, but the exact status of that at this time is part of our investigation."

On Huguely's lacrosse profile, he is described as an anthropology major and a midfielder who "can also play attack."

In a 2006 interview with The Washington Post, Huguely said it was wrong to jump to conclusions about accusations of rape during the Duke lacrosse scandal. "In this country, you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty," he said. The players were later found to have been falsely accused.

Huguely is withdrawing from the University of Virginia and is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. According to the Charlottesville Daily Progress, a bond hearing will be held June 10.

University President John Casteen expressed sadness about Love's death. "She deserves to be remembered for her human goodness, her capacity for future greatness," he said in a statement, "and not for the terrible way in which her young life has ended."