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George Huguely V gets 26 years for murder of Yeardley Love

Guilty of second-degree murder for the beating death of his ex-girlfriend

George Huguely V was sentenced to 26 years in prison for beating his former girlfriend to death on May 3, 2010.

George Huguely, age 24 and former University of Virginia lacross player, was found guilty of second-degree murder and grand larceny involving the death of Yeardley Love on Wednesday. After delivering the verdict, the jury deliberated for almost two hours and recommended 25 years for the murder charge and 1 year for grand larceny.

Prosecutors said George Huguely killed Love, a University of Virginia women’s lacrosse player, after a day of golf and binge drinking, enraged that she had had a relationship with a North Carolina lacrosse player.

Attorneys for George Huguely said he only went to Love’s apartment to talk, but things quickly escalated into a physical altercation. He said she banged her head against the wall of her bedroom, and she only had a bloody nose when he left.

A coroner concluded Love died of blunt force trauma. Her right eye was bashed in and her brain was bruised.

A defense witness testified Love smothered in her own blood-dampened pillow.

George Huguely was known for his excessive drinking at the time of the murder. Fellow lacrosse players testified that George Huguely had an escalating drinking problem, and often fought publicly with Yeardley Love.
The defense’s role was not get a verdict of “not guilty” for George Huguely, but rather to lessen the charges to involuntary manslaughter, with a 10 year sentence.

The Love family is still mourning the loss of their daughter. Sharon Love, Yeardley’s mother, told the jury that the loss of her daughter was an unbearable tug on her life.

“Every year that goes by I’d like to know what she’d be doing now,” she said.

Despite the power of the justice system, George Huguely has had an irrevocable impact on the Love family.

“There’s nothing to make good the terrible tragedy done to the Love family,” prosecutor Dave Chapman said, “We hope they feel some solace.”

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