“None of the families are happy to be here today. … These settlements do not bring closure to the families. They do nothing to ease their grief or loss,” Elliot Buckner, an attorney for the families, told the judge. The settlements “simply end the possibility of civil litigation against the University of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
A total settlement of $3 million has already been reached with two students injured in the shooting, according to lawyers.
University of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy said no lawsuit has been filed.
“The families of Devin Chandler, LaVell Davis Jr. and DeShawn Perry, whose lives were tragically cut short since Nov. 13, 2022, have been in our thoughts and hearts,” University of Virginia President James E. Ryan and Provost Robert Hardy said in a statement. “We will forever remember the impact Devin, LaVell and DeShawn had on our community, and we are grateful for the ways they stood before us in the classroom and on the football field, inspiring the University of Virginia.”
The University of Virginia students were returning from a school trip to see a play about Emmett Till when a gunman opened fire as the bus arrived on the Charlottesville campus. Two people, both members of the University of Virginia football team, were killed. Two other students, Michael Hollins Jr. and Marley Morgan, were injured.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., who was also on the trip, was later arrested in the shooting. He was charged with murder. A jury trial is scheduled for January.
University of Virginia. A student who knew Jones before the shooting In September 2022, Jones said he had a gun, and the university’s threat assessment team began investigating him. Jones had been convicted of a misdemeanor concealed weapons violation the previous year. Jones refused to cooperate with university officials’ investigation and In late October 2022, officials notified him that he would face disciplinary action.
The shooting happened just a few weeks later.
University officials asked the state to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting. Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (a Republican) and University of Virginia officials announced in October that the investigation was completed, but Miyares’ office said it could not release the report due to “attorney-client ethics rules.”
University of Virginia leaders initially said they would release it after reviewing it, but later announced they would delay it. They will do so until the criminal proceedings are completed.
“We are thrilled to welcome this opportunity to the University of Virginia,” said University of Virginia President James E. Ryan. In November He said even publishing a summary of the investigation’s findings could have an impact on criminal proceedings, and acknowledged that many people, including the victims’ families, are waiting for more information, which he promised to provide as soon as possible.
DeShawn Perry’s mother, Happy Perry, said she wishes she had seen the report sooner. “Like any mother, I want to know what happened to my child,” she said. “If I don’t know the ‘why,’ I can’t heal. I can’t move forward.”
