University of Virginia reaches $9 million settlement with families affected by 2022 mass shooting. But they say it's not enough

CNN
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The University of Virginia has reached a $9 million settlement with the families of three college football players who were killed in a 2022 mass shooting after a field trip, school officials announced Friday and lawyers for families and victims.

Lawyers told CNN in statements on behalf of the victims' families that the settlement did not provide them with closure and urged that the results of the attorney general's independent review of the shooting be released.

University spokesman Brian Coy said an Albemarle County Circuit Court judge approved settlement agreements between the university and the estates of football players Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. . and D’Sean Perry.

The three men were killed on November 13, 2022, when a fellow student opened fire on a bus returning to the Charlottesville campus after a field trip to Washington, D.C., where the class had seen a play.

Two other people, Marlee Morgan and Michael Hollins, were shot and injured. Suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former football player, faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony, a UVA Police Chief Tim Longo said.

He also faces two counts of intentional wounding, each accompanied by a firearm charge, Albemarle County Prosecutor James Hingeley said. The motive behind the killing of three UVA Cavaliers remains a mystery, the university's president said.

An attorney for the Perry family, Elliott Buckner, told CNN that the settlement would be paid by the Commonwealth of Virginia “in accordance with its Division Risk Management Plan.” The families of Chandler, Davis and Perry will each receive $2 million and $3 million will go to Morgan and Hollins, Buckner said.

In an email to CNN, Coy said the two sides had reached an agreement “in principle on the terms of the settlement” and said it had been approved by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and U.S. Attorney General Jason Miyares before court approval.

University President Jim Ryan and Provost Robert Hardie said in a statement: “As of November 13, 2022, the families of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry, whose lives were tragically cut short, were always present in our minds. »

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

CNN has reached out to the attorney general and governor for comment.

Kimberly Wald, an attorney for the Perry, Hollins and Morgan families, told CNN that the court finalized the $9 million “global settlement in this case” with the families of the three killed and two injured students.

Wald said the results of the independent investigation into the shooting, launched by Miyares, have not been released.

Families demand release from external investigation

Miyares announced days after the tragedy that he would begin an independent review at the request of Ryan and then-President Whitt Clement into the university's response to the shooting, as well as its efforts. had undertaken in the period which preceded it.

The victims' families' attorney said they are “demanding the release of information to understand what happened and why it happened, and then initiate reforms on college campuses across the United States.” to save lives.”

Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for Miyares, previously said the AG's office would bring in a special counsel to help finish the job.

“A public report will be shared with students, families, the UVA community at large and government officials at the appropriate time,” LaCivita said. “The Attorney General will work with deliberate speed while ensuring that all necessary resources remain dedicated to the criminal investigation by state and local authorities.”

Perry's attorney Buckner echoed Wald regarding the independent review, telling CNN that the court-approved settlements “bring no closure to the families.”

“The families still do not have all the information about what happened to their sons. It is time for UVA and the Commonwealth to release the report. The families deserve to know what happened,” Buckner said.

The suspect was denied bail at a hearing days after the shooting that revealed he had been charged and convicted of dangerous driving and hit-and-run in 2021 and had been charged of concealed weapons the same year. He received suspended sentences for all offences.

Jones purchased two firearms, a semi-automatic rifle and a pistol, in separate purchases in 2022, according to the owner of Dance's Sporting Goods in Colonial Heights, CNN previously reported.

But Jones also had to buy a gun there twice, unsuccessfully, Marlon Dance told CNN in an email. In 2018, he was under 21 to purchase a handgun and was denied the purchase. Three years later, he tried to buy a rifle, but failed a background check, according to Dance.

In an email to CNN, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller said an investigation into the July 8, 2021 purchase attempt found that the transaction center The State Police Firearms Department had denied Jones' request based on a pending legal case.

CNN's Joe Johns, Aileen Graef, Amir Vera and Holly Yan contributed to this report.