3 UVa Football Players Killed in Shooting Remembered as Role Models

Marlene Lenthang and David K. Li
Updated ·2 min read
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Family and friends of three college football players gunned down at the University of Virginia called their slayings “heartbreaking and tragic.”

Cavaliers linebacker D’Sean Perry and wide receivers Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. were killed the night of Sunday, Nov. 13, a little more than 30 hours after team’s game against the University of Pittsburgh. Police named onetime football player Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. as the suspect.

Lavel Davis Jr.

Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr. (1) walks off the field at the conclusion of the college football game on Sept. 10, 2022, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. (Michael Allio / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr. (1) walks off the field at the conclusion of the college football game on Sept. 10, 2022, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. (Michael Allio / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Davis, 20, who was set to graduate in December, was a beloved first child and a “role model” to his younger brother and sister, said his father, Thaddeus Lavel Davis.

He said he was “heartbroken.”

“I lost my baby. This is my firstborn child,” he said, adding that his son, who could “light up a room just with a smile,” was focused on school, football and his family.

Their family, from Charleston, South Carolina, was heading to the campus Monday.

Davis said he learned the news of his son’s death Monday morning after he got a call from his wife while he was at work but didn’t know exactly what happened in the shooting.

He said he last talked to his son Nov. 12 and wished he could have told him one last time, “I love you, son.”

D’Sean Perry

Virginia linebacker D'Sean Perry runs on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Syracuse on Sept. 23, 2022 in Syracuse, N.Y. (Adrian Kraus / AP file)
Virginia linebacker D'Sean Perry runs on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Syracuse on Sept. 23, 2022 in Syracuse, N.Y. (Adrian Kraus / AP file)

An attorney for Perry’s parents, Happy and Sean Perry, issued a statement thanking the South Florida and the Charlottesville communities for “the outpouring of support during this impossibly tragic time.”

“Right now, Happy and Sean will not speak publicly about the incident as their grief is only beginning, and out of respect for the University of Virginia community which has been terrorized by another mass shooting in the United States,” attorney Michael Haggard said.

Devin Chandler

Devin Chandler #86 of the Wisconsin Badgers before the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Oct. 9, 2021 in Champaign, Ill. (Michael Hickey / Getty Images file)
Devin Chandler #86 of the Wisconsin Badgers before the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Oct. 9, 2021 in Champaign, Ill. (Michael Hickey / Getty Images file)

Chandler came to Virginia’s program after having transferred from the University of Wisconsin.

“It is heartbreaking and tragic that Devin’s young life was cut short by violence,” Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh said in a statement.

Chandler had plenty of friends in Madison, and Sunday’s fatal shooting will be felt throughout the program, Wisconsin officials said.

“He had a lasting impact on his teammates, even after he left UW, which is a testament to the type of person he was,” interim Badgers coach Jim Leonhard said in a statement.

“His personality was infectious and he was a joy to be around. Our team is hurting for him and his family.”

This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com