As a senior, Chris Jones transferred from a high school in Richmond to one in Petersburg, where he lived with his grandmother. Cyndee Blount was a top administrator in the district. She recalled how that charismatic kid connected with people so well that after three months he was elected homecoming king.
He was always on time for school, made straight A’s, went to football practice, then to a part-time job at Taco Bell before walking home or taking the city bus after midnight, then doing homework. Blount said that wasn’t safe, so she persuaded a local dealership to give him a used car.
Blount wept as she recalled how proud he was of that car – and how proud she was of him.Jones had won admission to UVA.At that point, the defendant, who has appeared calm and stoic during the proceedings, looked down and covered his face with his hand.
In other testimony from an uncle and a cousin, the court learned Jones had grown up in poverty – his father frequently beating him, his siblings and his mother.
Then, as a senior in college, he seemed to suffer what his cousin called an episode. Antonio Clarke, Jr. said Jones was a whole different guy. He had a lot of paranoia. He kept looking over his shoulder, mumbling. He thought people were staring, laughing at him or trying to get him. He looked, Clarke recalled, like he had been through a war.
He, too, saw a change after Jones enrolled at UVA.He was, Clarke recalled, a whole different Chris.It felt like he was having an episode.He had a lot of paranoia.He kept looking over his shoulder – mumbling.He thought people were staring at him, laughing at him – trying to get him.
A fraternity brother got a call in which Jones claimed people were conspiring against him.“He didn’t sound like himself,” the man recalled.“He was usually confident and could handle any situation.Now he sounded scared.”
Mental health experts are expected to take the stand before Jones is sentenced.
