A former University of Virginia student accused of killing three football players and wounding two other people in a 2022 shooting pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges and could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 25, was charged with opening fire aboard a charter bus as he and other students returned from a day-long field trip to Washington, D.C. Football players Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis and D’Sean Perry were killed and two other students were wounded.
Jones pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and five counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He faces a maximum punishment of five life terms plus 23 years, according to a statement from the university.
Jones was a former member of the Virginia football team in 2018, but did not appear in any games.
He had been set to go to trial early next year. He is now scheduled to appear at a four-day sentencing hearing beginning Feb. 4 in Albemarle County Circuit Court.
‘Today was the day we came face to face with the person who MURDERED our son, our daughters’ brother, my granddaughter’s Uncle, a nephew, cousin, friend and teammate,’ Perry’s family said in a statement. ‘It is now in God’s hands. … I pray for all families involved and I pray for all the hearts of those affected by this horrific tragedy.’
A fourth football player, running backMike Hollins, was injured in the shooting – as was another student on the trip, Marlee Morgan. They recovered from their injuries, and Hollins later returned to play for the football team.
Prosecutors said there was no indication Jones knew the victims before the day of the shooting.
