FORT WORTH, Texas — The attorney for a man charged with murdering a Texas college student says the woman died accidentally during sex.

Charles Dean Bryant's attorney says her client then panicked and dismembered and burned the body of 24-year-old Texas Woman's University student Jacqueline Vandagriff.

Defense attorney Glynis McGinty laid out the defense in her opening statement Monday to a Tarrant County jury in Fort Worth, Texas. She said Bryant, who's 31, is guilty of evidence tampering for what he did with Vandagriff's body but not guilty of murder in Vandagriff's September 2016 death.

The woman's charred remains were found near Lake Grapevine two nights after their fatal encounter.

In 2017, Bryant was also charged with possession of child pornography. The 10-count indictment alleges that Bryant possessed pictures and videos of children engaging in sexual conduct.