UVA shooter’s motive deliberated in fourth day of sentencing

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) - During day four of the sentencing for Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., the man who took the lives of three UVA football players back in 2022, a motive came out in court.

The shooting happened on a bus coming back from a school field trip.

Jones Jr. shot and killed Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry on a bus as they returned to Grounds from a class field trip on Nov. 13, 2022.

Two other students - Mike Hollins and Marlee Morgan - were also injured in the shooting.

The prosecution is led by Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley and the defense is led by Doug Ramseur.

The defense called psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Aaron to the stand for what ended up being an hours long testimony and cross-examination.

Dr. Aaron told the courtroom he did an extensive evaluation of Jones, stretching over a year.

He said he believes Jones has a distortion in perception caused largely by severe childhood trauma.

The courtroom learned on Thursday Jones had an on and off sexual relationship with a female classmate of his who was at the center of a lot of his anguish and was also on the bus the day of the shooting.

On the day of the shooting, Dr. Aaron said Jones became fixed on the idea he was being set up by this girl. Jones was paranoid of other large men around him, saying that he needed to protect himself.

Dr. Aaron told the courtroom, right before that horrific moment on the bus, Jones described hearing a voice in his head saying “do it, don’t do it,” again and again.

The prosecution fired back that Jones’ mental struggles did not excuse the horrific crimes he had committed.

“A lot of people grow up in broken households but don’t commit triple murder,” prosecutors said.

The commonwealth’s attorneys also pointed to Jones’ drug use as a possible reason for his distortions. They also repeatedly said throughout the sentencing, Jones did not take advantage of the mental health services he had at UVA.

Also testifying Thursday were two key witnesses who were on the bus when the shooting happened: the professor who organized the trip, Theresa Davis, and one of Jones’ close friends and classmates, Alexis Stokes.

Jones was in a four person class led by Davis, a UVA Drama professor, the semester of the shooting. In this class Jones made a few close friends, including the girl he later had a sexual relationship with and Stokes.

Stokes said Jones and her quickly got close. She testified in court that he ended up being her best friend that semester before the shooting.

As the semester went on, though, Stokes said Jones’ behavior became increasingly concerning.

“He thought everyone was trying to hurt him,” she told the courtroom.

Stokes said she tried to get him to seek professional mental health but he did not.

His class was invited to join other students Davis taught on the school field trip. Neither the prosecution nor defense has insinuated Jones knew any of the victims before the day of the shooting.

Both Stokes and Davis described what it was like on the trip and during the shooting.

According to Stokes, Jones was excited about going on the trip before they left but his behavior became moody during it.

Stokes and Davis both described a happy environment on the bus ride home and that everyone was joking and having fun. Davis noted, though, that she saw Jones sitting with headphones in and his eyes closed.

Unprompted by the defense or prosecution, Davis told the courtroom she wanted to set the rumors straight that any of the three football players shot and killed bullied Jones.

“That never happened,” Davis said.

When the shooting happened, neither Stokes nor Davis said they remember seeing Jones actually shooting the victims.

“I wake up thinking about it and I go to sleep thinking about it,” Stokes said of the shooting, describing it as the hardest thing she has ever had to endure in her life.

Davis said she fell off the bus steps and heard who she believes to be Jones saying “get out of my way.”

During the first two days of sentencing, the prosecution called a number of family members of the victims, as well as the two survivors of the shooting.

Testifying prior to Thursday for the defense were family members of Jones’, as well as a few close mentors.

Jones pleaded guilty in November 2024 to:

• Three counts of first-degree murder
• Two counts of aggravated malicious wounding
• Five counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony.

A decision on how long Jones will spend in prison is expected to be reached by Friday.