A judge in Virginia imposed a 23-year prison sentence on George W. Huguely V, a former University of Virginia lacrosse player convicted in the alcohol-fueled beating death of ex-girlfriend Yeardley Love in 2010, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
Love's body was found on May 3, 2010, face down on a bloody pillow in her apartment near the university where she was also a student and lacrosse player, Reuters reported.
Huguely, a 24-year-old from Chevy Chase, Md., was convicted in February of second-degree murder as well as grand larceny for stealing a computer from Love’s apartment.
Prosecutors said Huguely entered the apartment while Love was sleeping, kicked in her bedroom door and then slammed her head against the wall. She was 22 and about to graduate.
Huguely's defense team said there was no evidence that he intended to kill Love, of Cockeysville, Md., and suggested instead that she had suffocated on the bloody pillow.
The jury recommended a 25-year sentence for the murder and an additional one year for the theft. The defense sought a 14-year sentence, the AP reported.
Love’s family is seeking more than $29 million in damages from the state and university officials, alleging they did not properly handle a separate incident in 2009 when Huguely attacked a lacrosse teammate while drunk, Businessweek reported. The family has also filed a lawsuit against Huguely, the report said.
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