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UVA community honors slain football players
Gospel music and the sound of choirs helped move an emotion memorial inside the John Paul Jones Arena for Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D'Sean Perry, the three football players who were shot and killed by an alleged gunman after a school field trip last weekend.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Authorities have upgraded murder charges against the man accused of fatally shooting three University of Virginia football players last year.
A special grand jury in Charlottesville issued the new aggravated murder indictments against Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. If convicted, the 23-year-old would serve a mandatory life sentence. They are the most serious murder charges available in Virginia after it abolished the death penalty in 2021.
Jones was a UVA student in November 2022 and a former member of the football team when police say he opened fire on a charter bus that had brought back students from a field trip.
UVA awards posthumous degrees to football players killed in shooting
The University of Virginia is awarding undergraduate degrees to the three students killed on campus during the Nov. 13 shooting.
A special grand jury in Charlottesville issued the new aggravated murder indictments against Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. If convicted, the 23-year-old would serve a mandatory life sentence. They are the most serious murder charges available in Virginia after it abolished the death penalty in 2021.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 23,
Football players Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed, while a fourth member of the team, Mike Hollins, and another student were wounded.
Jones had initially been charged with second-degree murder after his arrest.
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UVA Shooting: Accused gunman Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. scheduled for court hearing Wednesday
The man accused of shooting and killing three University of Virginia football players is expected to appear before a judge Wednesday. Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, is facing three counts of second-degree murder and firearms charges in connection with the brutal killings of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D'Sean Perry. Authorities say Jones Jr. gunned down the three student-athletes onboard a charter bus as they all returned from seeing a play in Washington, D.C. He will remain in jail and is expected to appear in court via video link.
Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley said in a news release that the new indictments were returned Wednesday.
Liz Murtagh, the public defender in Charlottesville and Albemarle County appointed to represent Jones, said she is "sorry the prosecutor chose to go this route" but declined further comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.