Virginia Honors Players Shot and Killed Last Month With Posthumous Degrees

Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry each received degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Editors’ note: This story contains details of a mass casualty event and gun violence.

The University of Virginia announced that the three football players who were shot and killed last month, wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler and linebacker D’Sean Perry, will receive posthumous degrees.

The request made by associate dean for undergraduate academic programs Rachel Most was approved Monday. The three UVA students studied in the College of Arts and Sciences, which conferred their degrees, according to UVA Today.

Davis was majoring in African American and African studies, Chandler was majoring in American studies and Perry was double majoring in studio art and African American and African studies.

The degrees were given to athletic director Carla Williams, who then awarded them to each player’s family. Williams also attended all three hometown funerals, which took place on Nov. 26, 27 and 30 in three different states, along with the entire Virginia football team.

“It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D’Sean,” Williams said, via UVA Today.

Perry, Chandler and Davis were shot and killed Nov. 13 on a bus near a school parking garage after returning from seeing a play in Washington, D.C. Running back Michael Hollins was hospitalized for a week and discharged last Monday. A fifth student, Marlee Morgan, also was wounded in the shooting, but she has since been released from the hospital.

The suspect, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was taken into custody Nov. 14 in connection with the shooting and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in commission of a felony, according to law enforcement. He is being held without bail in a Charlottesville jail.