Andrea Adelson
Nov 21, 2025, 07:26 PM ET
A man who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting three University of Virginia football players three years ago was sentenced Friday to the maximum penalty: five life terms plus 23 years.
Judge Cheryl Higgins handed Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. the sentence after a weeklong hearing in Charlottesville. Jones previously 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 for the Nov. 13, 2022, attack.
Jones opened fire on a charter bus after the team returned to campus from a class field trip to Washington, D.C., killing Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry and wounding running back Mike Hollins and track athlete Marlee Morgan.
Victims and witnesses, including Hollins, Morgan, members of the players’ families, Hollins’ mother and the faculty member who organized the trip, testified during the sentencing proceedings. Several of Jones’ relatives, friends and a high school mentor also testified on his behalf, describing an abusive childhood and mental-health issues.
Jones apologized in court, saying, according to Cville Right Now, “I’m so sorry. I caused so much pain.”
After the sentence, Hollins told reporters that while nothing can return the lost lives, the punishment gives “a little bit of peace knowing the man that committed those crimes won’t be hurting anyone else.”
