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A former University of Virginia student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., has been sentenced to five consecutive life sentences plus an additional 10 years for the murder of three members of the university's football team in November 2022. The sentence brings a formal, legal conclusion to a tragedy that shook the UVA campus and the broader athletic community.
The shooting took place on a charter bus as students returned from a class field trip. Jones, who had been a one-semester member of the football team, opened fire, killing Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry. Two other students were wounded in the attack: football player Mike Hollins, who was shot while urging others to run, and Marlee Morgan.
During the highly emotional sentencing hearing, family members of the victims delivered powerful impact statements detailing their profound and unending grief. “You have been sentenced to a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of misery, a lifetime of remembering what you’ve done,” said Happy Perry, D’Sean Perry’s mother, addressing Jones in court. Survivor Mike Hollins also spoke, recalling the chaos and his efforts to help his fellow students escape the bus. The sentence was part of a plea agreement reached in November 2024, where Jones pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of malicious wounding, thereby avoiding a jury trial.
Prosecutors argued that Jones acted out of paranoia and anger. The sentencing concludes the criminal case against Jones just over two years after the tragic event. In a separate civil matter, the university settled with the victims' families and the two survivors for $9 million earlier this year. The resolution of the legal case against the shooter confirms that Jones will spend the remainder of his life in prison.
