The Charlottesville Police Department charged a University of Virginia men’s lacrosse player Monday with first-degree murder in the death of a 22-year-old women’s lacrosse player who was also a student at the university.

George Huguely, 22, of Chevy Chase, Md., has been charged in the death of Yeardley Love of Cockeysville, Md., Lt. Gary Pleasants of the Charlottesville Police Department confirmed to The Daily Orange Monday afternoon.

In a press conference earlier Monday, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said Huguely had been charged in Love’s murder.

Police were called to Love’s apartment shortly after 2 a.m. Monday morning after receiving a call from her roommate, Longo said. Love’s roommate was concerned that Love may have had an alcohol overdose, but police found her dead on the scene, Longo said.

‘Patrol officers arrived on the scene,’ Longo said. ‘And it was quickly apparent to them that this young lady was the victim of something far worse.

‘There were obvious physical injuries to her body, which prompted them to immediately secure the crime scene, contact investigators, detectives and forensic personnel from the department that spent the better part of this morning on the scene of that tragic incident.’

Neither Longo nor Pleasants would elaborate on the extent of Love’s injuries, but Longo did say that there did not appear to be any weapons involved.

Quickly, police moved on Huguely as the suspect in the crime, Longo said. He would not say what drove investigators to immediately suspect Huguely.

‘By early morning, probable cause existed for us to take him into custody and obtain warrants for his arrest,’ Longo said.

Longo said the two senior students at the University of Virginia were in a relationship at some point.

‘Certainly, that’s a relevant aspect of our investigation,’ Longo said.

According to reports, Huguely is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

There was no word on how the incident would affect the rest of the two teams’ seasons. Both teams were preparing for their respective NCAA tournaments later this month. The men’s team is currently ranked No. 1. The women’s team is ranked No. 4.

According to an ESPN report on Monday evening, the men’s and women’s programs gathered together Monday to mull the possibility of postponing play in the upcoming NCAA tournaments. However, the report said that no final decision had been made. 

In the same press conference, Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said the campus was ‘devastated’ and that the tournament was not even entering the department’s thoughts yet.

‘There will be a point as the teams are reconvened later today and in the coming days that those sorts of conversations will take place between coaches and the young people on the team,’ Littlepage said.

Reaction to the news from members of the Syracuse lacrosse program was one of shock and devastation.

‘I know you hear it a lot, but you just can’t take life for granted,’ SU midfielder Jovan Miller said. ‘Every day could be your last. I feel bad because I just don’t know how to feel. Anytime somebody’s a senior in college about to graduate, that’s a huge accomplishment for anybody. The fact that her life was cut short like that — that’s really, really sad.’

Across the lacrosse community, the somber news spread quickly throughout the afternoon.

In Princeton, Tigers head coach Chris Bates poured his heart out to the Virginia community. Before the Tigers’ practice Monday afternoon, Bates said his senior captains brought everyone together for a brief, silent huddle to try to get their team through it.

‘It’s just devastating to hear that news,’ Bates said Monday night. ‘As word spread throughout the day, our locker room was pretty somber.’

Two years ago when he was the head coach of Drexel, Bates went through a similar ordeal when former Drexel player Max Brindle was killed in a bicycle accident nearly one month following the end of Brindle’s freshman 2008 season.

‘Your heart goes out to the Virginia community and everybody involved and the girl’s family,’ Bates said. ‘It’s such sad news. It just helps us keep life in perspective. But in the short term, it’s just stunning, sad, tragic news.

‘You just try to get the team together, mourn together and just rely on each other.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on May 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm