The University of Virginia held a memorial Saturday at the John Paul Jones Arena in honor of the three students who were fatally shot on Sunday, Nov. 13.
The slain victims were third-year student-athletes Devin Chandler of Virginia Beach, D’Sean Perry of Miami, and Lavel Davis Jr. of Ridgeville, South Carolina. The three are remembered by their coach and others as “good kids” and members of the university’s academic and athletic community.
Service attendees were asked to stand while families of the three football players walked into John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia. When the families were seated, the service began with music and a video remembering D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler.
U.Va. President James Ryan then took to the podium, thanking the families and those in attendance including Gov. Glenn Youngkin. A recording can be viewed online.
“As I’ve said before, shared grief is a powerful reminder that it is our bonds with each other, and with a common community that matter more than our perceived differences, and give us the strength to endure,” Ryan said.
The school’s rector, Whittington Clement, then thanked everyone in attendance and said the university would never forget the legacies of the three men.
“Be assured that these three fine young men will forever be remembered at our University of Virginia,” Clement said.
Justin Duenkel, a junior kicker on the Cavalier’s football team, led the service with a prayer. He was followed by junior linebacker Hunter Stewart’s reading of the poem “Total Praise,” by Langston Hughes.
Teammates took turns speaking and expressing their shared loss and love for Perry, Davis and Chandler. They talked about how hard the past week had been since the shooting. Words were heavy with emotion, but the football players also had humorous stories to tell, garnering laughter from the audience at times.
Cavalier’s head coach Tony Elliot spoke before the filled arena. He said each of the three men had made a positive and lasting impression on his life. He took time to thank the families of the three football players as well.
“To my three young kings. I’m eternally grateful for you. Thank you for being the light to the world. You all will continue to shine your lights bright before us in the days ahead,” Elliot said.
Thousands of students participated in a silent vigil Monday after a long shelter-in-place alert was sent out the night before. A prayer service was also held on Monday at St. Paul’s Memorial Church for religious students to mourn their peers.
The deadly shooting happened on Sunday when students were returning from a class field trip to see a play in the District. On the ride back to campus, the suspect, named as 22-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., fatally shot three football players and injured two other people — football player Mike Hollins and sophomore Marlee Morgan.
In a video posted on Facebook, university president Jim Ryan thanked students for their patience and participation in memorials for the lost students. The university will be resuming classes, while a football game was canceled for this Saturday as the team continues to mourn their lost friends.
Additional resources, support services and other accommodations for students have been made available.
“I’ve come to learn that (grief) is different for everyone, and that getting back to a normal routine doesn’t mean that you as a person are necessarily back to normal … grief will run the course it needs to run,” Ryan said. “I hope you’ll continue to give yourself grace, and ask for help, if and when you need it, especially given that the grief in this instance was compounded by fear and trauma.”
The university’s student government also released a statement sharing their condolences and access to resources.
A criminal investigation is underway and Jones is being held in Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail until he is set to stand before a judge on Wednesday, Nov. 23. He faces three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of malicious wounding with a firearm.
Before the memorial service began, the U.Va. Police Department issued a statement that said the school had received a threatening email regarding the memorial but that the service would remain on schedule.
