Ex-UVA Student Sentenced to Five Life Terms After 2022 Bus Shooting Kills Three Football Players

Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former University of Virginia student, was sentenced to five life terms on Friday for a 2022 shooting that killed three football players and injured two others aboard a charter bus returning to the Charlottesville campus.

Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins imposed the maximum penalties after five days of testimony; Jones had pleaded guilty last year. The five life sentences correspond to the murders of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry, and to the aggravated malicious wounding convictions involving Michael Hollins and Marlee Morgan.

Shooting, capture and campus response

Prosecutors say Jones opened fire as students returned from Washington, D.C., after a play and dinner. The shooting near a campus parking garage triggered a 12-hour lockdown while authorities searched for the suspect; students sheltered in closets and darkened rooms, and campus buildings were barricaded. Jones was captured later that day.

Judge's findings and evidence

Judge Higgins told the court that no one on the bus had been bullying or threatening Jones that night, and she emphasized the sentence was based on a reasoned legal analysis rather than vindictiveness. The judge described Jones as having "distortions in his perception of reality" but concluded he understood his actions. Court testimony and evidence included pre-shooting messages in which Jones wrote he expected to "either go to hell or spend 100-plus years in jail," and accounts that he discarded his clothing and the firearm after the attack and lied to officers shortly afterward.

Investigation, university review and settlement

Within days, university leaders requested an outside review of campus safety policies, the institutional response to the violence, and prior efforts to assess Jones as a potential threat. School officials acknowledged Jones had previously been monitored by the campus threat-assessment team. Last year the university agreed to a $9 million settlement with victims and their families; attorneys for the families have argued the university should have removed Jones from campus after earlier warning signs of erratic behavior.

Victims and reactions

Jones addressed the court for about 15 minutes, tearfully apologizing to passengers and the victims' families. Some family members stood and left the courtroom while he spoke. Michael Hollins, who survived being wounded in the attack, said the sentence provided "a little bit of peace" in knowing the person responsible will not be able to harm others again.

Jones will be eligible to apply for parole when he turns 60.