The man who shot and killed three Virginia football players three years ago was sentenced to five life sentences plus 23 years on Friday in Charlottesville, Va.
Ending a weeklong sentencing hearing, Judge Cheryl Higgins gave Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. the maximum penalty for the murders of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry on Nov. 13, 2022.
Jones pleaded guilty last year 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. Football player Mike Hollins and track athlete Marlee Morgan were both wounded in the attack.
“I’m so sorry. I caused so much pain,” Jones said in a courtroom apology following closing arguments, according to local reports.
Jones and the victims had returned to campus on a charter bus after a class field trip to see a play in Washington, D.C., when he opened fire.
Hollins, a running back who returned to play for the Cavaliers in 2023, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse after the sentencing.
“Knowing that he has been given a time and justice has been served for the most part even though that no amount of time on this earth in jail will get those lives back, just a little bit of peace knowing the man that committed those crimes won’t be hurting anyone else,” Hollins said.
