The student accused of killing three University of Virginia football players after a school field trip refused to bond Wednesday during a hearing in Charlottesville.
According to a witness, suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. shot one of the players, Devin Chandler, while he was sleeping, the Albemarle County District Attorney said. UVA Cavaliers Colleagues Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were also killed.
Wednesday’s hearing also revealed that Jones was charged and convicted of reckless driving and hit-and-run in 2021 and had a concealed weapons charge that same year. He received a suspended sentence for all offences.
Jones remains in custody at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, according to online records. He was assigned a public defender until his next hearing in December — a status hearing that will discuss whether Jones has retained a private attorney, Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingley said.
Jones was on a field trip Sunday with other UVA students to see a show in Washington, D.C., a university spokesman said.
When the bus returned to the Charlottesville campus, authorities said, the 22-year-old opened fire on the bus, killing Chandler, Davis and Perry.
Jones faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of use of a weapon in the commission of a felony, UVA Police Chief Timothy Longo Sr. said.
He also faces two counts of malicious wounding, each with a firearm charge. Two others were wounded in the shooting, Hingley said.
The prosecutor identified the injured as Marlee Morgan and Michael Hollins.
One was in serious condition and the other was released from the hospital, UVA Health spokesman Eric Swensen said Tuesday. Swensen did not identify any individuals.
Hollins, a junior running back on the varsity football team, was intubated but stable Tuesday morning, his family said. CNN has reached out to Marlee Morgan’s family.
UVA student Ryan Lynch told CNN affiliate KYW-TV that she was on the bus where the shootings occurred and saw Jones push one of the victims.
“Chris got up and pushed Lavelle,” Lynch said. “After he pushed him, he said, ‘You’re always messing with me.’ He said something strange like that, but it was very strange because they didn’t talk to him the whole trip.’
Then shots rang out.
“They just kept coming, more and more shots,” Lynch told KYW. “We thought he was going to shoot everyone on the bus.”
But “the assailant just walked or, like, got off the bus,” Lynch said.
UVA’s scheduled game against Coastal Carolina on Saturday has been canceled, the university’s athletics department announced Wednesday.
“The game would be Virginia’s final home game of the 2022 season,” a statement from the athletics department said.
“A decision on whether Virginia will participate in its final game of the season, a Nov. 26 (Saturday) date against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, has not been made at this time.”
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Coast Conference released guidelines Wednesday outlining how the rest of the conference will support UVA going forward.
“The ACC is a family, and when one member of our family hurts, we all hurt,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected and we will continue to support UVA in any way we can during this difficult time.”
pic.twitter.com/bII2iECgAO — ACC Football (@ACCFootball) November 15, 2022 The ACC produced UVA helmet decals to be worn by every conference school and a moment of silence will be observed at all ACC home football games this coming weekend, according to a statement from the conference.
The ACC has also created powerful UVA graphics for conference schools for use in social and digital media.
Before Sunday’s shooting, Jones was the subject of a pending case with the university’s judicial council as Sunday’s shooting unfolded, officials said.
“On Sept. 15, as part of a review of a possible hazing issue, UVA Student Affairs heard from a student that Mr. Jones made a comment to him about having a gun,” said Brian Coy, the university’s spokesman.
That person “did not see Mr. Jones in possession of a gun” and “the comment about having a gun was not made in conjunction with a threat,” Coy said.
“During their investigation, University officials spoke with Mr. Jones’ roommate, who gave no indication of the presence of weapons. During their investigation, University officials discovered that Mr. Jones had previously been tried and convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation in 2021, for which he received a 12-month suspended sentence and a small fine.”
Coy said throughout the investigation, “Mr. Jones repeatedly refused to cooperate with University officials who requested additional information about the allegations that he had a firearm and his failure to disclose his prior misdemeanor conviction.”
“The Threat Assessment Team escalated his case for disciplinary action” on Oct. 27, Coy said.
The school’s judicial board took over the case and the results are pending, said Longo, the school’s police chief.
Jones was also involved in a wild campus investigation that was called off because witnesses wouldn’t cooperate, Longo said.
Jones is listed on UVA’s athletics website as a 2018 freshman undefeated football player. A UVA spokesperson told CNN Jones had a pre-existing injury that prevented him from playing on the football team in 2018.
Jones went through medical treatment and rehabilitation during his time with the team and was only a member of the team for one season, the spokesman says.
“What I do know is that the young man was an incoming freshman in 2018 and attended for one semester with our football program,” Williams said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, UVA football coach Tony Elliott spoke publicly for the first time since the shooting. He described the days following the attack as a nightmare.
“I’m ready for somebody to poke me and wake me up and say that didn’t happen,” Elliott said, adding that Tuesday “was a lot better, we were able to go through the pain to find some joy. celebrating the lives of Lavel, D’Sean and Devin.”
The deaths of players Chandler, Davis Jr. and Perry left three huge holes on a team that felt more like a family than anything else, the coach said. He went on to describe them, calling Chandler “the life of the party,” Davis “the big man on campus” and Perry “the quiet guy everyone wanted to know.”
Elliott praised the strength of his team and staff for coming together and being able to work the shot. Elliott said the team inspired him to keep pushing. At the same time, he said the staff is tasked with making sure the team has all the resources they need and that no one is isolated.
“The message to the team is that we will celebrate their lives going forward and the impact they have made so far and the legacy that they will help us establish going forward,” Elliott said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the last name of UVA Health spokesman Eric Swensen.
