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University Of Virginia Awards Posthumous Degrees To Three Football Players Killed During Shooting Rampage
The families of three University of Virginia football players -- Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis, Jr. and D'Sean Perry -- were given posthumous degrees in their honor. They died last month during a shooting rampage on a chartered bus.
Three University of Virginia football players, gunned down while returning from a class trip last month, were awarded posthumous degrees by the school.
University officials delivered the degrees to the families of D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis, Jr. during funeral services. All three were enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences.
They died after Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. allegedly opened fire on a chartered bus in Charlottesville on Nov.r 13. The students were returning to campus from a trip to Washington, D.C. to see a play. Two other students, Mike Hollins and Marlee Morgan, were injured in the attack, but have been released from the hospital. Hollins, a running back for the team, is expected to earn his undergraduate degree later this month.
“It was a great honor to be part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean,” Carla Williams, the director of athletics for the University of Virginia said in a statement.
Davis was a third-year student from Ridgeville, South Carolina with a major in African American and African studies. Chandler, a second-year student from Huntersville, North Carolina, majored in American studies. Perry, from Miami, Florida , was a fourth year with a double major in studio art and African American and African studies.
Williams said in the statement that while talking to Davis’ family at his funeral service on Nov. 30, it became obvious “why earning his degree from the University of Virginia was so important to Lavel. He worked hard for it.”
Jones, a former player on the football team, was arrested after a 12-hour manhunt and campus wide lockdown.
He was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He’s also charged with two counts of malicious wounding. A status hearing is scheduled for Thursday, according to ESPN.
Police have not revealed a motive, but survivors of the attack said Jones yelled “you guys are always messing with me” before the shooting, FOX5 reported.
