Mom: Teen's Death Was No Accident

Dismisses Possible Suspect's Reported Rough-Sex Account

(CBS)  On Friday, the day after what would have been her 18th birthday, Taylor Behl was laid to rest.

Police haven't yet charged anyone with killing the Virginia Commonwealth University freshman, whose body was found in a wooded area in Virginia more than a week ago.

But on Saturday, Behl's mother told reporters she knows who did it.

"Let's be clear," Janet Pelasara said. "Ben Fawley murdered my daughter."

Fawley, a 38-year-old amateur photographer being held on unrelated child pornography charges, is now apparently talking to Richmond, Va., police about Behl, reports Tracy Smith.

According to police sources, Fawley says Behl died accidentally, when he restricted her breathing during an intimate encounter in a car.

The state medical examiner hasn't ruled on what killed Behl.

But Pelasara is having none of his story.

"I don't believe that it was an accident," she told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Monday. "This is his third alibi, his third version.

"I don't believe that Taylor would go willingly with this man to have an intimate encounter. She told girlfriends that, after the first time, she had absolutely no interest in him other than a friendship. … It just couldn't have been an accident. There's just absolutely no way."

Pelasara pointed out that, at first, Fawley "said he had no idea where she was or what had happened. (A claim he had been abducted) was his alibi number two. But the whole abduction thing is just — he's a pathological liar. And so it's just one more proof of that."

Pelasara's lawyer says Fawley has a history of violence toward girlfriends, and Pelasara observes, "He's a coward to be beating up on women, choking girlfriends, assaulting other women. And, with this whole bipolar thing, he and his history of violence toward women and his obsessive-ness with women that have rejected him, he could have just snapped.

"We feel that he will be charged, (that there will be a) grand jury indictment, and then he will be charged."

Fawley faces a litany of legal trouble, Pelasara points out: "With him behind bars, that's great, for his pornography and … he was in possession of a gun. He's a convicted felon, so that's illegal. And now, the false statement to the police about his abduction. And now, I believe he'll be charged with the murder of my daughter."

The tragedy is wearing on Pelasara, she admits, saying, "My days can be very long. It's heart wrenching. You go in your house and you see everything that was Taylor's. And I find myself saying, 'We did this' or 'We would do that' or 'We were gonna.' It's just so sad. But the outpouring of sympathy and support from the community has been incredible."