Family representatives held a news conference Wednesday morning regarding the death of D’Sean Perry, a Miami native shot and killed along with two other University of Virginia football players on the school’s Charlottesville campus over the weekend.
Perry was a football star at Gulliver Prep in Pinecrest and went to UVA after graduation to continue his athletic career.
Wednesday morning’s news conference was held in Coral Gables. Perry’s head coach at Gulliver, Earl Sims, and Michael Haggard, the family’s attorney and friend, spoke about his loss.
Both spoke about Perry’s strong work ethic, his generous spirit and radiant smile, as well as the future that was in front of him.
They said Perry was planning to get a master’s degree in the arts because he had a passion for the arts. He also wanted to play for the NFL and they spoke about the sheer devastation felt by everyone who knew him.
“D’Sean Perry is the American dream. He’s a Miami story, from Richmond Heights,” Haggard said. “His mom is a U.S. postal worker. His dad worked in corrections—two parents who put everything into their children. Everything. D’Sean Perry had made it, he had made it. He was at one of the greatest schools in the country, going to class as a great student-athlete. And this is how the story ends?”
Haggard said when Perry’s parents are ready to talk, they plan to address the issue of gun violence.
Sims was emotional about Perry’s loss.
“D’Sean was a beautiful flower in our garden at Gulliver. And when he got transplanted to his next school, we knew he was going to continue to grow,” Sims said. “But, you know, God picked that flower.”
Sims said Wednesday was the first day that he was able to go back to campus.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler were targeted by the suspect, former football player Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., who turns 23 Thursday.
The three were killed and two others were wounded while on a bus returning from a field trip.
University officials have said they don’t yet have a “full understanding” of the shooter’s motive.
Perry’s parents were in Virginia working to bring their late son home as of Wednesday afternoon.
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