Yeardley Love's mother, coach raising awareness about relationship violence

They were a picture-perfect couple — both University of Virginia lacrosse players, Yeardley Love from the Baltimore suburbs and George Huguely from Chevy Chase.

But the couple had a stormy, on again, off again relationship.

And at Huguely’s trial, prosecutors said that on May 3, 2010 — in a jealous, drunken rage — Huguely entered her apartment, broke down her bedroom door and violently beat her to death.

“I mean I can go back to quarter of six in the morning on May 3, I got the phone call, I know before Sharon got the knock at her door and literally time stopped,” said Julie Myers, Love’s lacrosse coach.

Agonizing days followed as Yeardley Love’s family, friends and teammates grappled with the sudden loss of a young woman who had quietly captivated so many.

The Beta bridge on campus was painted in her memory.

“Not only did her teammates love her, but everybody loved her,” Myers said. “It was so unimaginable and so profound.”

Two years later, her sister, her friends and her mom, Sharon, listened to the painful details. They also witnessed the moment when Huguely was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

“I deal with it basically the same as I did 15 years ago…” her mom said. “Do the best you can and keep going.”

Sharon Love has done far more than keep going. She created the One Love Foundation. Its aim: reduce relationship violence.

The foundation’s research found intimate partner violence was most prevalent among 18-24-year-olds.

“We picked that age group, and then realized there was no preventative,” Sharon Love said. “Everything was after the fact.”

College students were One Love’s first target — a film called “Escalation” was created for the first workshops held around the country.

The next focus: high schools.

“Kids loved it. They liked talking about relationships and they liked talking to each other,” Sharon Love said.

'What could I do to help the next coach, the next mom, the next community from losing somebody because you didn’t know what you were looking at?'

Myers stepped in two years ago as CEO after retiring from 28 years as head coach of UVA’s women’s lacrosse team.

“What could I do to help the next coach, the next mom, the next community from losing somebody because you didn’t know what you were looking at?” she said.

Myers said as One Love evolved, they realized they needed to reach even younger students, so they reworked their lessons. Sixteen workshops — tailored to different ages — are available online at JoinOnelove.org, free of charge, she said.

“If we are prevention education, which is where we settled, how young do we have to start?” Myers said. “So we educate kids as young as 11 years old, so that’s like upper elementary school, the beginning of middle school. It’s hopefully before they have a romantic partner.”

Another growing part of One Love started about four years ago: high school chapters. Junior Simone Spasojevich started one last fall at Henrico County’s Godwin High School.

“I had read a story online about Yeardley’s death and was shocked and disturbed and felt like a cause I really needed to bring to the Godwin campus,” Spasojevich said.

She’d seen concerning issues in some of her friends' relationships.

“My friends would talk about, like I had a friend whose boyfriend would always text her, ‘Where are you? Who are you with?’” Spasojevich said. “I wanted to kind of raise awareness that control isn’t love and that isn’t how connections are built.”

The Godwin One Love club has 70 members, with about 30-40 students attending two times a month. Using the One Love guides on healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, club leaders plan the focus for each meeting.

“I think that’s been helpful in my personal journey,” Spasojevich said. “To just be able to see what small warning signs and just being able to really trust my gut and know if something feels wrong, it will only escalate from there.”

On its website, One Love says it’s reached more than 3 million young people over the years.

“We have a lot of people that write to us to say One Love saved their lives,” Sharon Love said.

They say the more young people who can be educated about relationship violence, the better the chance to recognize the red flags — or to be the person that steps in to help.

“We’re creating communities with these schools where they not only take care of themselves, but they look out for one another, both the boys and the girls,” Sharon Love said.

When Myers reflects back 15 years, she said she wishes she and Yeardley Love’s teammates had noticed more and known more about trouble signs.

“I wish I could go back 15 years,” Myers said. “It would be nice to go back to say, ‘Yards, you are not alone, we’ve got your back and we’re going to do something about this together.’”

Huguely is set to be released in five years.

“There’s like nothing I can do about it, and I feel like any time or thought I give to him, I could be doing something better than that,” Sharon Love said.

Something better like continuing to expand One Love — to give young people knowledge and skills to avoid, escape or rescue others from relationship dangers.

The One Love Foundation has overcome challenges, including a lawsuit filed in 2023 by one of its board members and largest donors. He alleged Sharon Love had criticized the amount of outreach to LGBTQ youth and minority communities. Julie Myers, who became the One Love Foundation CEO after the suit was filed, tells News4 the allegations were "totally unfounded." The lawsuit was settled through mediation.