University of Virginia shooting suspect denied bond as witness claims attack wasn’t random
The suspect accused of killing three University of Virginia football players in a Sunday night shooting was denied bond Wednesday as he made his first court appearance since the rampage.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. didn’t enter a plea Wednesday for charges including three counts of second-degree murder in connection with the massacre that also left two people wounded.
Jones, who appeared at the hearing via video from jail, said he plans to hire a lawyer and was appointed a public defender until then.
The 22-year-old Jones, who is a student at the university and a former player on the football team, allegedly committed the shooting after a bus returning from a field trip arrived at a parking garage on the university’s campus in Charlottesville.
The victims killed were identified by police as Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler. Mike Hollins, who is also a member of the UVA football team, was among the victims wounded, his father said.
Prosecutor James Hingeley of the Albemarle County Commonwealth said Wednesday that a witness claimed Jones was “aiming at certain people,” and not random victims, during the shooting. Authorities have not released a motive.
The university on Wednesday canceled Sunday’s football game against Coastal Carolina, which was scheduled to be the Virginia Cavaliers’ last home game this year. The only remaining game on the Cavaliers’ schedule is a road matchup against Virginia Tech.
“A decision if 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,” the team said Wednesday.
UVA students returned to class Wednesday after two days of cancellations.
The search for Jones, who was on Virginia’s football roster in 2018, lasted about 12 hours, causing a lockdown on the UVA campus until his arrest Monday in the Richmond area, about 80 miles away.
Jones’ father says he “can’t believe” what happened.
“He had some problems the last time I talked to him,” Christopher Darnell Jones Sr. told local news station WWBT of his son.
“He said some people were picking on him or whatever, he didn’t know how to handle it and I told him just go to school, don’t pay it any mind. He was really paranoid when I talked to him about something, but he wouldn’t tell me everything. He was a very sensitive young man.”
With News Wire Services
