The man accused of killing three of his classmates at the University of Virginia last fall has been appointed a fourth lawyer in response to elevated charges. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Twenty-three year old Christopher Darnell Jones, Jr. appeared in the Albemarle County Circuit Court on Friday for a motions hearing. Jones is accused of killing three fellow students who were on the football team: Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D'Sean Perry, and injuring two others. Last month, he was served with 13 new charges stemming from the November 2022 shooting. Issued by a special grand jury, they include six counts of aggravated murder – two for each of the slain young men – two counts of aggravated malicious wounding, and five counts of using a firearm in a felony.
Unlike second-degree murder, which Jones was previously charged with, aggravated murder carries a mandatory life sentence in prison. Because of the new charges, Jones' legal team from the public defenders office filed a motion for the court to appoint a fourth attorney, Doug Ramseur of Richmond. The judge approved this addition on Friday. A mental health expert, Dr. Jeffrey Aaron, has also been appointed to assist the defense. One of Jones's attorneys wrote in a motion that the investigation indicated his mental health will be a primary factor in the case.
The next hearing has been scheduled for February.
