The University of Virginia announced plans to honor the lives of the three football players tragically killed last month. The institution will be awarding the three victims posthumous degrees. On Nov. 13, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were gunned down on a bus returning from a class trip.
According to ESPN, Rachel Most, the associate dean for undergraduate academic programs, led the initiative. Most is the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and all three players were pursuing majors in her department.
Carla Williams, athletic director for the university, said in a press release from the university that “it was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean.”
Chandler was a sophomore majoring in American studies at the time of the shooting. Davis Jr., a junior, majored in African American and African studies. Perry, a senior, double-majored in studio art and African American and African studies.
ESPN also reports that team running back Mike Hollins and student Marlee Morgan sustained nonfatal wounds during the incident.
As Blavity previously reported, authorities identified the suspect as Christopher Jones Jr. At the time of the shooting, Jones Jr. was a student at the university and was also on the previously mentioned class trip. Jones joined the football team as a walk-on player in 2018.
Once in custody, Jones was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was also charged with two counts of malicious wounding and additional gun-related charges related to the gunshot wounds of Hollins and Morgan.
Jones Jr. is set to appear in court Thursday for a case status hearing.
According to The Hill, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said that he will appoint a special counsel to review the events leading up to the shooting.
Jones Jr. is currently being held in a Charlottesville jail without bond.
