UVA Knew of Gun Conviction Against Student Before Triple Murder but Never Started Discipline Process
Marlene Lenthang et al., NBC News, November 15, 2022
The University of Virginia admitted Tuesday it knew triple-murder suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. had been convicted of a weapons charge weeks before this weekend’s carnage and did not start a disciplinary process against him.
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The school had been “reviewing a potential hazing issue” when the Office of Student Affairs “heard from a student that Mr. Jones made a comment to him about possessing a gun,” the university said in a statement Tuesday.
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As the probe moved forward, it was learned that “Mr. Jones previously had been convicted of a misdemeanor for a concealed weapons violation in 2021,” the school said.
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The Office of Student Affairs moved Oct. 27 “to escalate his case for disciplinary action,” the statement said.
But officials said they realized only after Sunday’s shooting that the report of his conviction was never relayed to the University Judiciary Committee.
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Jones, 22, is accused of gunning down D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. and injuring two other people, Marlee Morgan and Michael Hollins, after a school field trip Sunday night.
