UVA Fatal Shootings Lead to Canceled Football Game, Suspect Held Without Bail

Posted on: November 17, 2022, 12:48h. 

Last updated on: November 17, 2022, 10:23h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

The University of Virginia has canceled its scheduled football game on Saturday with Coastal Carolina after a triple homicide involving the UVA team.

Christopher Darnell Jones
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former UVA football player, pictured above, remains in custody without bail. He allegedly shot four football players. Three died. The fourth player and a fifth student were injured. (Image: Barstool DMV)

Three members of the UVA football team were shot dead on Sunday. The Charlottesville campus continues to mourn their deaths. Two other students were injured in the shootings.

News that Saturday’s home game was canceled was supported by Coastal Carolina officials.

As much as we love gameday and the spirit it brings, there is a time when the sanctity of life and sustaining of a community take precedence. This is one of those times,” Matt Hogue, Coastal Carolina’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement.

As of earlier this week, UVA was a -1.5 favorite and the points total was 44 over/under.

The last game of the season, at Virginia Tech on November 26, is still on UVA’s schedule. Odds on that game have yet to be posted.

The suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, a former UVA football player, remains in custody without bail. He allegedly shot five UVA students on campus Sunday night while on a chartered bus that had just returned from a field trip to Washington, DC.

Jones was arrested Monday. He appeared via video conference Wednesday morning before an Albemarle General District Court judge.

It also was revealed by a prosecutor that Jones shot one of the players, Devin Chandler, while he was sleeping. He died from his wounds. Two other players, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry, were also killed.

Two Surgeries

Michael Hollins, who is also on the football team, was wounded in the back. Hollins underwent surgery Sunday night to remove a bullet from his stomach, ESPN said. A second surgery let physicians inspect for internal injuries, ESPN added. Following the second procedure, Hollins was taken off of a ventilator.

A fifth victim, Marlee Morgan, also a UVA student, was treated at a Virginia hospital for injuries and later released.

Jones wasn’t firing at random on the bus based on witness statements revealed by the prosecutor. Instead, Jones was aiming at certain individuals.

Jones was described as emotionless as his charges were read in court on Wednesday morning, according to WRIC, a local TV station.

Jones was initially charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three firearm charges. Additional charges were added for the injuries suffered by the other two students. These are malicious wounding and firearm counts.

Jones’s next court date is December 8. He didn’t enter a plea on Wednesday.

Prior Crimes

It was also revealed in court that Jones had a prior criminal record.

He was arrested in 2021 in Chesterfield County for concealed weapons charges. He was given a suspended sentence in that case, Fox News reported. In October 2021, Jones received another suspended sentence for a hit-and-run charge with property damage and reckless driving, WRIC said. He also received a suspended sentence for an incident that happened in October 2020.

In addition, it was revealed earlier this week that as UVA officials investigated a hazing issue, an unnamed student was told by Jones that he possessed a gun, CNN reported. UVA forwarded the incident for review by the university’s Threat Assessment Team and judicial council for possible disciplinary action.

Jones’s father also told a local TV station this week that his son had been picked on.

Jones was a standout academic student and football player while in high school.