CHRISTIANSBURG -- A first-degree murder charge against Haiyang Zhu, a former Virginia Tech graduate student accused of killing a classmate in January, was certified to a grand jury this morning.

When police arrived Jan. 21 to the Au Bon Pain inside the Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center, they found Xin Yang decapitated. She was a graduate student from Beijing who had arrived Jan. 8 to begin her studies in accounting at the Pamplin College of Business. She lived in the center.

Au Bon Pain employee Corey Cox this morning described standing at the cash register and hearing a loud growl come from Zhu. He said when he looked up, Zhu was already on top of Yang. He had lunged at her and was attacking her with a knife.

"He was already going at her, cutting her head off," Cox said.

Cox said he jumped behind the counter and called 911. But he looked over the counter several times and described Zhu as having a "blank, determined look."

An autopsy report showed Yang had several defensive wounds to her hands and arms.

Virginia Tech police officer Nicole Irvine, the first to arrive at the scene, testified that when she arrived, Zhu was walking toward her, carrying the head in his hand, by the hair.