UVA must pay $9 million for shooting that killed 3 football players and injured 2 students

The University of Virginia will pay $9 million as part of a settlement related to a 2022 campus shooting that killed three football players and injured two students, a lawyer representing some of the victims and their families said Friday.

But some of the families are demanding more: the immediate release of an independent investigation into the shooting, which was completed last year and focused on the university’s efforts to assess the potential threat posed by the student who was eventually charged with murder, and recommendations based on the findings.

Kimberly Wald, an attorney representing some of the families, said the university should have expelled the suspected shooter from campus before the attack because he had exhibited numerous warning signs due to his erratic and unstable behavior.

“This settlement today is just a small step for these families – there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Wald, an attorney with Miami-based Haggard law firm. “If there is a lesson, even one lesson, that we can learn from this report, we must learn it now… We must protect lives now.”

The university administration had postponed the release of the report last year because they feared it could affect the upcoming trial of the alleged shooter.

“We are committed to providing this information as soon as we can be confident that it will not in any way prejudice the criminal proceedings,” UVA President Jim Ryan said last fall.

The Charlottesville school will pay the families of the three deceased students $2 million each, the maximum allowed under Virginia law, said Wald, who represents the estate of D’Sean Perry. The other two deceased students were Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr.

The university will pay a total of $3 million to the two injured students, Mike Hollins, a fourth member of the football team, and Marlee Morgan, who also represents Wald.

The settlement was negotiated out of court and not the result of a lawsuit, Wald said. However, any settlement in Virginia must be approved by a judge. The settlement with UVA was approved Friday afternoon by a judge in Albemarle County District Court.

The agreements were also approved by Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin and the state’s Attorney General Jason Miyares, the university said in a statement.

UVA Rector Robert Hardie and President Ryan said in Friday’s statement that the lives of the three students were “tragically cut short” and that the young men “have always been present in our thoughts.”

“We will always remember the impact Devin, Lavel and D’Sean had on our community, and we are grateful for the moments they spent in our presence, strengthening UVA through their time in the classroom and on the football field,” the statement said.

Police said Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former member of the university’s football team, committed the shooting. The incident occurred as he and others were returning to campus on a charter bus from a theater trip in Washington, authorities said.

The violence, which erupted near a parking garage, sparked panic and a 12-hour lockdown on campus until the suspect was caught. His trial on murder and other charges is scheduled for January.

Days after the shooting, university leaders called for an outside investigation to examine UVA’s security policies and procedures, its response to the violence and its previous efforts to assess the potential threat posed by the student who was eventually charged. University officials acknowledged that he had previously been on the radar of the university’s threat assessment team.

The report was completed in October and UVA said it would release it in November, but UVA changed its stance due to concerns that it could affect Jones’ trial.

Happy Perry, who lost her son D’Sean Perry, said Friday the report should be released now if it can help prevent similar shootings.

“As a mother, I want to know what happened. It’s my right to know what happened,” she said during a Zoom call with reporters. “At this point, it’s a matter of public safety and national security that we get that report.”

Brenda Hollins, whose son Mike Hollins was shot and injured, said she had mixed emotions after the settlement Friday, and she spoke of how devastated and changed all the families are.

“You put your smile on and as the day goes on, you might be able to move forward,” Hollins said during the Zoom call. “But then it just sneaks up on you. And if you don’t deal with it in that moment, then it eats you up.”